THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


f 


k 


UNIVKP"^ITy  of  CAU^' 


LOS  Ar:c::'Li::o 

LILiRARY 


THE    LIFE    &    EXPLORATIONS    OF 
FREDERICK   STANLEY   ARNOT 


Frederick  Stanley  Arnot 

A  photo  ta'<en  on  Paddington  Station  platform  in  June,  iqis,  when  leaving  for  Africa  for  the 

last  time. 


THE    LIFE    (Sf    EXPLORATIONS 


OF 


FREDERICK  STANLEY 
ARNOT 

THE  AUTHORISED  BIOGRAPHY  OF  A  ZEALOUS 
MISSIONARY,  INTREPID  EXPLORER,  y  SELF- 
DENYING  BENEFACTOR  AMONGST  THE 
NATIVES  OF   AFRICA 


BY 

ERNEST   BAKER 

AUTHOR    OF    "the    RETURN    OF    THE     LORD,"     ^C.     &C, 


WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS    a'   A   MAP 


NEW   YORK 
E.    P.    BUTTON  &   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


S4S37 


TRINTED   IN  GRBAT   BRITAIN 


HI 


PREFACE 

I  HESITATED  long  as  to  the  form  the  Life  of  Arnot 
should  take,  alternating  between  a  descriptive  narra- 
tive and  a  transcript  of  his  diaries  and  letters.  As  I 
read  and  re-read  these  I  felt  something  of  the  spell  that  the 
diaries  of  David  Brainerd,  Henry  Martyn,  and  Murray 
McCheyne  have  exercised  over  so  many,  and  I  felt  that  it 
would  be  better  for  the  most  part  to  allow  Arnot  to  tell  his 
own  story.  So  I  have  made  a  plentiful  use  of  his  own  words, 
believing  that  the  result  of  combining  the  two  methods  will 
be  the  addition  to  our  literature  of  a  story  that  will  be  both 
interesting  from  a  narrative  point  of  view,  and  stimulating 
and  inspiring  from  the  devotional  standpoint.  In  the  use  of 
letters  I  have  not  specified,  except  on  occasions  when  I  have 
deemed  it  necessary,  to  whom  they  were  addressed. 

Arnot  must  be  reckoned,  not  only  amongst  the  greatest 
saints  and  missionaries  of  modern  times,  but  also  amongst  its 
greatest  travellers.  He  made  nine  journeys  to  the  centre  of 
Africa.  Without  reckoning  the  tens  of  thousands  of  miles  that 
he  had  to  travel  on  the  ocean  to  get  to  Africa  and  back,  with- 
out counting  the  journeys  around  the  coast  from  port  to  port, 
and  without  including  the  long  distances  he  was  able  to  go  in 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  by  train  over  railways  that  had  then 
been  built,  it  is  estimated  that  he  covered  29,000  miles  in  all 
by  foot,  in  hammocks,  on  the  back  of  donkeys  or  oxen,  or  in 
canoes.  This  is  a  record  that  has  probably  never  been  sur- 
passed in  Africa,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  many  have  equalled  it  in 
other  parts  of  the  world. 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  the  hearty  co-operation  of  Mrs. 
Arnot,  the  widow  of  F.  S.  Arnot,  for  the  loan  of  diaries,  letters, 
and  other  papers,  and  for  numerous  articles  and  booklets 
written  by  Arnot  from  time  to  time.  Mrs.  Arnot's  counsel  has 
been  invaluable  in  deciding  what  to  include  and  what  to 
eliminate. 

11 


12  PREFACE 

Some  of  the  material  has  of  necessity  appeared  already  in 
Arnot's  principal  books,  Garenganze,  Bihe  and  Garenganze,  and 
Missionary  Travels  in  Central  Africa,  and  grateful  acknowledg- 
ment is  hereby  made  both  to  Mrs.  Arnot  and  the  publishers  of 
these  works  for  permission  to  use  the  material  contained 
therein. 

Miss  Ray  Arnot,  Arnot's  eldest  daughter,  who  assisted  him 
in  his  later  years  in  his  literary  work  and  correspondence,  has 
been  a  great  help  in  correcting  place-names. 

Then  a  word  must  be  said  for  the  great  traveller's  mother, 
Mrs.  Arnot,  who  is  still  alive,  and,  at  the  time  of  writing,  is 
eighty-six  years  of  age.  She  resides  in  Glasgow  and  has 
followed  with  great  interest  the  progress  of  this  Biography,  and 
has  trusted  letters  of  her  son  to  the  mercy  of  the  seas,  infested 
in  war  time  with  the  deadly  submarine.  Glimpses  of  him,  in 
a  tenderer  and  more  vivid  light,  can  thus  be  given  to  the  public 
than  could  be  obtained  from  a  perusal  of  his  journals  and 
letters,  which  were  written  with  a  view  to  publication. 

ERNEST  BAKER. 

Johannesburg,  South  Africa. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAOe 

I.  Beginnings        .......       17 

II.  Apbican  Apprenticeship    .....       22 

III.  Through  the  Desert        .....       32 

IV.  First  Experiences  with  Carriers    ...       43 
V.  Spying  out  the  Land        .....       52 

VI.  Amongst  the  Barotse       .....       66 

VII.  More  about  the  Barotse          ....       90 

VIII.  From  the  Zambesi  to  Benguella      .         .         .104 

IX.  Some  Native  Beliefs         .          .          .          .          .122 

X.  At  and  Around  Benguella       .          .          .          .129 

XI.  A  Start  from  Benguella          .          .          .          .143 

XII.  In  Need  of  Patience        .         .         .         .         .159 

XIII.  In  Gabenganze  .  .  .  .  .  .179 

XIV.  The  People 200 

XV.  Anxieties,  Prayers  and  Deliverances     .          .216 

XVI.  Home  and  Fame         .          .          .          .          .          .231 

XVII.     The  Second  Journey 238 

XVIII.     The  Third  Journey 254 

XIX.  Great  Britain,  British  Guiana  and  Europe    .     268 

XX.  The  Fourth  Journey        .....     274 

XXI.  The  Fifth  Journey            .....     285 

XXII.  The  Sixth  and  Seventh  Journeys  .         .         .301 

XXIII.  The  Eighth  Journey 314 

XXIV.  The  Last  Joutiney  and  the  Home  Call  .  .     322 


13 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Frederick  Stanley  Arnot 


Frontispiece 


F.  S.  Abnot  (aged  23) 


FACING    PAUB 

48 


F.  S.  Arnot  (aged  31) 


48 


KuTATu  Crossing 


112 


On  the  Zambesi 


144 


Bih4 


176 


Near  Bih6 


208 


A  Fetish-man 


288 


A  Striking  Head-dress 


288 


THE  LIFE  &  EXPLORATIONS 

OF 

FREDERICK  STANLEY  ARNOT 


CHAPTER   I 

BEGINNINGS 

FREDERICK  STANLEY  ARNOT  came  of  a  good  stock. 
His  great-grandfather,  on  his  paternal  side,  was  the 
Rev.  William  Arnot  of  the  church  now  known  as  the 
Arnot  Memorial  Church,  Kennoway,  Fifeshire.  A  book  of 
sermons  entitled  Law  and  Grace,  written  by  him,  was  greatly 
esteemed  by  his  fellow  ministers  at  the  time  of  its  publication. 
This  William  Arnot  was  a  great  friend  of  the  Rev.  John  Newton, 
the  well-known  hymn  writer.  A  letter  by  tliis  famous  preacher 
written  to  Mrs.  Arnot  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  her 
husband  has  been  preserved,  and  was  read  by  Fred  as  a  boy 
with  great  and  reverent  interest. 

The  grandfather  of  the  future  missionary  was  also  a  William 
Arnot.  He  was  a  publisher  in  Edinburgh,  and  connected  with 
the  Bible  Society  in  that  city.  He  was  alive  when  Fred  was 
born,  and  daily  remembered  his  grandsons  in  prayer. 

Fred's  own  father  was  also  named  William,  and  at  the  time 
of  his  (Fred's)  birth — which  took  place  on  September  12th, 
1858,  at  8  Bunbank  Terrace,  Glasgow — had  a  shipping  con- 
nection with  Australia. 

His  mother  was  the  youngest  daughter  of  Neil  Macdonald, 
of  Macdonald  and  Dunn,  sewed-muslin  manufacturers  of 
Paisley.  Mr.  Macdonald  died  before  his  daughter's  marriage 
with  Mr.  Arnot.  His  grandparents  belonged  to  the  islands 
of  Skye,  from  which  they  fled  at  the  time  of  the  rebellion  in 
connection  with  Prince  Charlie. 

When  Fred  was  about  four  years  of  age  his  parents  removed 
to  Hamilton.    Here  he  attended  the  Gilbertfield  School,  where, 


18  BEGINNINGS 

at  the  age  of  six,  at  the  Annual  Prize  Distribution,  he  heard  Dr. 
Lixingstone,  who  had  just  returned  from  exploring  the  Zambesi. 
His  interest  in  Africa  began  then. 

As  Hamilton  was  the  home  of  Livingstone  a  friendship  sprang 
up  between  the  Arnots  and  the  Livingstones  ;  and  on  Saturday 
afternoons  Fred  used  to  play  with  the  children  of  the  great 
traveller.  On  these  occasions  they  frequently  rummaged  in  the 
corners  of  an  old  attic  where  many  of  the  curios  brought  from 
Africa  were  kept,  and  where  also  the  Doctor's  books  and  letters 
were  stored.  On  one  of  these  occasions  Annie  Mary,  Living- 
stone's daughter,  read  to  them  one  of  her  father's  letters  in 
which  he  told  of  the  cruelties  practised  by  the  slave  traders. 
Though  only  a  boy  Fred  there  and  then  determined  that  "  he 
would  go  and  help  that  great  man  in  his  work."  That  resolution 
was  always  kept  in  mind,  and  it  governed  his  studies  and 
thoughts.  Africa  became  the  centre  around  which  his  mind 
revolved.  Whenever  his  home  lessons  included  geography,  no 
matter  what  part  of  the  world  was  the  subject,  he  generally 
finished  up  with  Africa.  Asked  on  one  of  these  occasions  how, 
if  no  one  gave  him  the  money,  he  would  get  there,  he  replied 
that  he  would  swim. 

Arnot's  father  was  brought  up  in  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,' 
but  when  Fred  was  about  ten  years  of  age  he  became  exercised 
about  baptism  and  meeting  to  break  bread  every  Lord's  Day. 
As  the  result  of  this  he  joined  an  assembly  of  Brethren  in 
Hamilton.  At  the  same  time  he  worked  in  connection  with  the 
Evangelisation  Society,  and  had  charge  of  a  work  in  a  little 
hall  called  "  Back  of  the  Barns,"  where  he  carried  on  a  very 
successful  Gospel  effort.  In  this  he  was  helped  by  members  of 
the  assembly  in  the  town,  and  also  by  some  well-known  Brethren 
from  Glasgow. 

In  1870  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  Arnot  removed  to  Tayport,  Fifeshire. 
Here  the  father  initiated  a  meeting  for  the  breaking  of  bread 
which  was  first  held  in  a  cottage,  and  afterwards  in  a  small  hall 
in  the  village. 

As  early  as  his  eighth  year  Fred  realised  his  need  of  a  Sa\'iour ; 
and  in  1869  he  found  peace  through  repeating  and  believing, 
at  two  o'clock  one  morning,  the  message  of  John  iii.  16. 

Whilst  in  his  early  teens  he  was  baptised  at  the  "  Mid  Wynd  " 
meeting  in  Dundee,  the  late  Mr.  Scott  interviewing  him  regard- 
ing his  religious  experience,  after  which  he  was  received  into 


BEGINNINGS  19 

the  meeting  at  Tayport  where  his  father  was  the  principal 
speaker. 

Young  Arnot  commenced  Christian  work  early.  He  accom- 
panied his  father  in  open-air  work,  and  took  part  in  the  meetings 
when  he  was  only  fifteen.  A  Tayport  man  afterwards  remarked  : 
"  We  used  to  think  he  took  too  much  on  himself  preaching  to 
us  men,  but  now  I  see  the  lad  was  father  to  the  man." 

At  the  shipbuilding  yard  in  Tayport  he  spent  six  months 
learning  how  to  use  tools  ;  and  frequently  in  later  years  he  would 
say  that  the  training  he  received  here  was  very  useful  to  him  in 
Africa. 

In  1876  the  family  removed  back  to  Glasgow,  when  Fred 
entered  a  wholesale  linen  merchant's  warehouse.  There  he  was 
once  asked  to  invoice  some  goods  wrongly.  He  refused,  and 
after  a  time  of  anxiety  was  commended  by  the  head  of  the  firm 
for  acting  in  accordance  with  his  conscience.  In  his  further 
business  life  he  travelled  much  in  different  parts  of  Scotland, 
and  in  following  his  tracks  to-day  one  learns  how  much  he  was 
loved  and  how  well  he  has  been  remembered. 

In  order  to  fit  himself  for  his  work  in  Africa  Arnot  would 
frequently  take  cross-country  journeys  guided  only  by  the  com- 
pass. On  one  occasion  he  was  in  a  lonely  part  and  in  a  district 
of  which  he  was  ignorant.  He  asked  his  way  to  the  nearest 
railway  station.  A  coal  miner  directed  him,  and  as  the  distance 
was  considerable,  and  as  this  stranger  knew  the  nature  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  also  saw  a  few  suspicious  characters  on  the 
road,  he  called  two  of  his  sons,  who  were  also  miners,  and  told 
them  to  follow  Arnot  and  guard  liim  till  he  reached  his  destina- 
tion. This  they  did.  In  after  years  in  Central  Africa,  when 
welcoming  a  party  of  missionaries  sent  to  reinforce  him,  Arnot 
was  told  by  one  of  the  new  arrivals  of  the  incident,  and  the 
narrator  added :  "  I  am  one  of  the  sons  who  followed  you  to 
guard  you,  little  thinking  that  I  would  become  a  missionary 
and  meet  you  in  Africa." 

In  his  spare  time  the  future  missionary  learnt  to  make  shoes, 
to  cut  out  cloth,  and  sew  it  as  a  tailor.  He  learnt  how  to  take 
a  watch  to  pieces,  and  to  put  it  together  again,  and  practised 
working  as  a  blacksmith  and  as  a  joiner.  He  also  acquired  a 
certain  amount  of  medical  and  surgical  knowledge  which  on 
several  occasions  stood  him  in  good  stead,  both  as  to  himself 
and  others.    To  all  this  he  added  a  careful  systematic  study  of 


20  BEGINNINGS 

the  Scriptures,  the  result  of  which  was  that  all  his  addresses 
were  edifying  as  well  as  suggestive. 

In  Glasgow  Arnot  was  connected  with  the  meeting  of  Brethren 
held  in  Parkholm  Hall,  Paisley  Road.  By  this  assembly  he  was 
commended  to  God  for  the  work  to  which  he  had  consecrated 
himself,  the  elder  brethren  being  particularly  hearty  in  their 
approval  of  his  enterprise,  ha\ang  carefully  marked  his  diligence 
in  summer  pioneer  Gospel  work  in  Scottish  and  EngHsh 
districts. 

Arnot  was  twenty-three  years  of  age  when  he  started  for 
Africa.  Many  of  his  relatives  were  opposed  to  his  going  in  the 
simple  way  of  trusting  his  temporal  affairs  to  God,  wishing  him 
to  take  a  University  training  and  to  go  out  in  connection  with 
a  recognised  society.  But  this  he  did  not  feel  called  to  do.  He 
went,  as  he  believed,  and  as  the  results  showed,  at  the  call  of 
God.  Several  friends  shared  his  desire  to  evangelise  the  natives 
of  the  Dark  Continent.  These  helped  in  providing  his  outfit, 
and  in  equipping  him  for  his  expedition.  But  being  the  agent 
of  no  organisation  his  resources  were  very  slender.  To  this  fact 
he  himself  said,  upon  returning  seven  years  later,  he  owed  his 
escape  from  some  of  the  troubles  befalhng  travellers  furnished 
\vith  a  large  stock  of  goods ;  and,  being  without  the  helps  and 
comforts  possessed  by  them,  he  was  obliged  to  share  the  lives 
of  the  natives  in  a  way  that  gave  him  a  better  knowledge  of  them 
than  he  would  otherwise  have  obtained. 

His  intention  when  leaving  was  to  make  for  the  Zambesi,  and 
to  follow  up  one  of  the  smaller  affluents,  and  so  get  on  to  the 
watershed  on  the  north,  where  he  expected  to  find  a  mountain- 
ous and  healthy  country.  He  had  been  much  impressed  with 
the  heavy  death  rate,  often  as  high  as  50  per  cent,  of  African 
missionaries,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  mission  stations  were 
dotted  along  the  banks  of  the  great  rivers.  His  idea,  therefore, 
was  to  find  a  big  inland  ridge  where  healthier  conditions  would 
be  possible,  and  which  would  be  a  centre  for  missionary  work. 

On  July  19th,  1881,  Arnot  sailed  by  the  Dublin  Castle 
for  South  Africa,  accompanied  by  one  who  purposed  to  be  his 
companion  in  the  work. 

Arriving  at  the  Cape  on  August  13th,  Arnot  and  his  friend 
were  much  refreshed  by  meeting  with  a  band  of  earnest  Chris- 
tian workers  who  showed  much  interest  in  their  enterprise. 
With  these  the  question  was  considered  of  making  their  way 


BEGINNINGS  21 

into  the  interior  from  Cape  Town,  but  they  were  led  to  conclude 
that  Natal  offered  a  more  advantageous  starting-point,  so  they 
proceeded  to  Durban  in  a  small  coasting  steamer.  They  were 
much  impressed  by  meeting  on  this  vessel  four  natives  from 
Delagoa  Bay  who  urged  them  to  start  work  there,  promising 
to  build  them  a  house  and  a  chapel,  and  to  give  them  food  and 
drink.  When  little  hope  of  their  settlement  in  that  centre  was 
given  the  reply  came  :  "  Ah  !  white  man  bring  brandy  to 
Delagoa  Bay,  and  guns  and  powder ;  but  white  man  no  bring 
chapel  to  Delagoa  Bay." 

Durban  was  reached  on  August  20th.  The  next  day  was  a 
Sunday,  and  the  visitors  worshipped  in  the  evening  in  the 
little  Congregational  church  near  the  pier,  where  the  Rev. 
David  Russell  (since  known  as  the  South  African  Evangelist) 
was  the  preacher.  The  text  on  that  occasion  was  :  '  Verily 
I  say  unto  you,  there  is  no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or  brethren, 
or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands, 
for  My  sake,  and  the  gospel's,  but  he  shall  receive  a  hundredfold 
noAv  in  this  time,  houses,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  and  mothers, 
and  children,  and  lands,  with  persecutions  ;  and  in  the  world 
to  come  eternal  life."  The  word  was  like  a  drink  from  the  brook 
by  the  way  to  hearts  that  were  already  beginning  to  feel  some- 
thing of  the  loneliness  to  which  they  were  committed. 

The  first  trial  came  here.  The  health  of  Arnot's  companion 
broke  down,  and  acting  under  medical  advice  he  felt  he  must 
abandon  the  Journey  to  the  interior,  so  Arnot  had  to  proceed 
alone. 


CHAPTER  II 


AFRICAN   APPRENTICESHIP 


THE  next  step  was  Maritzburg,  where  Arnot  was 
detained  for  three  months.  The  country  was  still 
in  an  unsettled  condition,  due  to  the  Boer  War  of 
1880-1,  and  preparations  for  a  journey  to  the  Zambesi  were 
difficult.  The  time,  however,  was  well  spent.  Mission  stations 
in  the  surrounding  country  were  visited  and  much  useful 
information  gained.  Opportunities  for  preaching  to  his  fellow- 
countrymen  were  also  seized,  and  many  visits  to  the  sick  in 
the  hospitals  gladly  paid. 

It  was  in  this  place  that  Arnot  had  the  first  of  his  many 
marvellous  escapes,  and  learnt  how  near  he  could  be  brought 
to  death  and  yet  preserved  without  a  hair  of  his  head  being 
touched.  Going  to  a  meeting,  when  a  tremendous  thunder- 
storm was  raging,  he  was  startled  hy  an  electric  ball  falling 
just  at  his  fr^.  The  small  stones  and  dust  caused  by  its  con- 
tact with  the  ground  flew  all  around  him.  The  shock  passed 
through  his  whole  body.  Those  who  saw  the  ball  of  fire  fall 
said  it  seemed  to  come  right  down  where  he  stood,  and  they 
described  the  noise  when  it  struck  the  ground  as  like  the  crash 
of  a  cannon-ball.  Arnot  was  none  the  worse  for  the  occurrence 
and  was  able  to  conduct  the  meeting. 

Arnot  made  many  friends  in  Maritzburg,  and  from  these 
he  received  valuable  assistance  in  fitting  himself  for  the  long 
journey  before  him.  The  help  was  not  only  with  word  but 
with  means.  He  was  persuaded  to  buy  a  rifle,  as  he  was  told 
by  reliable  persons  that  he  would  be  unable  to  secure  natives 
to  travel  with  him  unless  he  had  a  gun  with  which  to  obtain 
meat. 

The  decision  was  made  during  t'Ais  waiting  time  to  proceed 
to  Shoshong,  the  capital  of  the  Bamangwato  in  Bechuanaland, 
under  the  rule  of  the  chief  Khama.  Here  he  would  be  for  a 
while  amongst  some  of  his  countrymen,  and  have  at  the  same 

22 


AFRICAN  APPRENTICESHIP  23 

time  the  best  opportunity  of  learning  the  Sechuana  language, 
which  is  the  basis  of  most  of  the  dialects  of  the  interior 
tribes. 

Arrangements  were  made  to  travel  with  a  transport  rider 
who  was  taking  a  number  of  waggons  to  Potchcfstroom,  and 
with  these  Arnot  left  on  November  20th.  The  waggons  started 
from  the  Natal  capital  on  the  19th,  reaching  the  top  of  the  hill 
above  the  town  the  same  evening.  Arnot  did  not  join  them 
till  the  next  morning  when  some  of  the  Christians  of  the  city 
accompanied  him  up  the  hill  to  say  good-bye.  Sixteen  Kafiir 
drivers  soon  put  the  oxen  and  the  heavy  waggons  into 
motion. 

Now  that  the  country  is  intersected  with  railways  it  is 
interesting  to  read  Arnot's  description  of  the  travelling  of  his 
day.  "  Inland  journeys  from  Maritzburg,"  he  said,  "  are  made 
by  means  of  ox- waggons,  each  carrying  between  three  and  four 
tons  weight  of  goods,  and  drawn  by  from  16  to  20  oxen. 
Four  or  five  waggons,  however,  generally  travel  together,  as 
the  roads  in  many  places  are  hilly,  and  in  others  so  marshy 
that  more  than  one  team  of  oxen  is  required  to  get  the  waggon 
along.  It  does  look  stupid  to  see  so  many  oxen  drawing  one 
waggon  over  the  level  roads  about  town  ;  but  when  one  sees 
them  out  in  the  country  dragging  it  through  a  quagmire,  with 
great  boulders  of  stone  hidden  in  the  mud  every  few  yards,  and 
then  up  a  tremendously  steep  hill,  one  wonders  how  they 
manage  to  get  along  at  all.  Sometimes  as  many  as  70 
oxen  have  to  be  yoked  to  one  transport  waggon.  We  hope  to 
make  eight  or  ten  miles  a  day,  without  many  stoppages,  if  the 
rivers  are  fordable." 

Day  after  day,  after  leaving  Maritzburg,  the  train  of  bullock 
waggons  passed  the  soldiers  returning  from  Northern  Natal  in 
consequence  of  the  settlement  after  the  Boer  War.  Lea\dng 
the  town  of  Lady  smith  on  their  right  they  went  up  the  Van 
Reenan  Pass,  through  the  Drakensberg  Range,  to  the  Free 
State.  Arnot's  sleeping  accommodation  was  on  the  ground 
under  one  of  the  waggons,  which  he  confessed  was  a  little 
trying  with  a  drenching  rain,  and  with  four  degrees  of  frost 
before  the  morning.  For  three  days  a  terrific  storm  of  wind 
and  rain  kept  them  prisoners,  and  Arnot  remained  for  most 
of  that  time  wrapped  in  a  sheep-skin  kaross,  lying  under  one 
of  the  waggons  sharing  coffee  and  "scoff"  with  the  drivers, 


24  AFRICAN  APPRENTICESHIP 

for  the  white  man  in  charge  had  ridden  off  to  the  nearest 
hotel. 

INIost  of  the  time  on  the  road  was  spent  with  the  Kaffirs 
only,  and  as  he  understood  but  little  of  their  language  as  yet 
he  was  consequently  shut  up  to  "  converse  only  with  Him 
whose  ear  is  ever  open  to  us.  This,"  Arnot  says,  "  has  turned 
my  solitude  into  a  very  precious  time,  and  I  can  say  to  His 
praise  that  I  never  felt  more  free  from  all  care  and  anxious 
thought  than  now.  I  wonder  how  it  is  that  Satan  has  so 
managed  to  blindfold  me  in  the  past,  that  my  whole  life  has 
not  been  one  note  of  praise.  Oh  !  stir  up  every  child  of  God 
you  meet  to  praise  our  God  more.  We  little  know  how  much 
we  rob  Him  by  our  sad  hearts  and  dull,  thankless  lives.  The 
Lord  has  been  teaching  me  a  little  of  the  awful  sin  of  unthank- 
fulness.  Two  great  reasons  why  God  gave  up  those  of  old  to 
uncleanness  and  darkness  were,  that  they  glorified  Him  not 
as  God,  neither  were  thankful." 

Travelling  in  the  Free  State  was  easy  except  for  occasional 
deep  sloughs  of  black  mud  when  the  drivers  had  to  inspan  forty 
or  more  oxen  to  one  waggon  at  a  time.  Proceeding  via  Harri- 
smith  and  Heilbron,  and  crossing  the  Vaal  River,  Potchefstroom 
was  reached  on  December  23rd. 

For  a  few  days  Arnot  camped  on  the  Market  Square  in  his 
small  patrol  tent,  6  ft.  by  3  ft.  The  fort  recently  garrisoned 
by  the  British  was  just  outside  the  town  and  was  to  him  a 
centre  of  interest.  This  had  been  besieged  by  a  large  force 
of  Boers,  and  had  held  out  in  ignorance  for  some  time  after 
peace  had  been  concluded.  Evidence  of  recent  happenings 
were  to  be  seen  in  the  neighbourhood  ;  remains  of  horses,  oxen, 
and  even  natives,  lying  in  the  vicinity.  Arnot  was  shown  a 
dug-out  provided  for  the  only  woman  in  the  garrison,  and 
also  a  spot  where  a  young  soldier  fell  who  had  been  found  sleep- 
ing whilst  on  duty  in  the  trenches,  and  who  was  condemned 
to  be  shot.  Rather,  however,  than  be  killed  by  his  own  country- 
men he  jumped  upon  the  parapet  and  was  immediately  shot 
down  by  the  Boers.  "  If,"  says  Arnot,  "  our  Captain  so  treated 
His  sleeping  soldiers,  who  would  stand  ?  How  gentle  were  His 
words  when  He  found  His  disciples  sleeping  for  sorrow,  '  Why 
sleep  ye  ?  '  " 

Suitable  lodgings  were  soon  found  in  the  town,  and  for  six 
weeks  Potchefstroom  was  his  centre.    He  made  extended  tours 


AFRICAN  APPRENTICESHIP  25 

on  horseback  from  this  place  to  many  of  the  Dutch  farms, 
carrying  Scripture  portions  with  him.  In  the  course  of  these 
tours  he  was  entertained  by  Mr.  (afterwards  General)  Cronje 
and  his  wife,  and  also  by  General  Joubert.  These  helped  and 
cheered  him  much  in  his  work  amongst  the  Boers. 

At  Potchefstroom  Arnot  met  a  Mr.  Webb,  who  had  been  a 
missionary  amongst  the  Baralongs  ;  but,  owing  to  a  deficit 
of  eighty  thousand  pounds  in  funds,  the  Society  he  repre- 
sented had  been  obliged  to  retrench  and  dispense  with 
his  services.  Consequently  he  had  resumed  his  trade, 
which  was  that  of  a  blacksmith.  As  a  return  for  help 
in  his  occupation  Mr.  Webb  gave  Arnot  lessons  in  the 
Sechuana  language.  Writing  from  this  centre  Arnot  said  : 
"  Potchefstroom  is  a  lovely  place,  with  such  a  lot  of 
fruit  of  every  description.  The  young  man  with  whom 
I  lodge  has  a  large  garden  and  I  have  undertaken  to 
dry  his  fruit  for  him  as  he  has  not  time.  I  have  been  busy 
with  the  apricots  during  the  last  few  days,  opening  them  up 
and  laying  them  out  on  reeds  to  dry  in  the  sun.  Peaches  and 
figs  come  next ;  so  with  this,  learning  the  Sechuana  language, 
and  helping  Mr.  Webb  in  his  business,  I  am  kept  pretty  busy. 
The  other  day  I  walked  out  to  the  British  fort  just  outside  the 
town,  where  for  three  months  a  constant  fight  was  kept  up. 
It  is  surprising  to  see  the  amount  of  labour  and  toil  they  must 
have  gone  through  in  throwing  up  the  immense  earth  mounds, 
and  in  digging  the  long  deep  trenches.  Eighty-five  of  our  men 
fell  in  these  trenches,  and  they  are  buried  here  and  there  very 
much  as  they  fell." 

A  letter  of  introduction  to  a  friend  in  Klerskdorp  resulted 
in  an  introduction,  in  that  town,  to  Mr.  F.  C.  Selous.  This 
famous  hunter  was  making  arrangements  to  go  to  Shoshong, 
and  when  he  found  that  Arnot  wanted  to  reach  the  same  place 
he  gave  him  a  cordial  in\dtation  to  accompany  him,  which  was 
joyfully  accepted.  Returning  to  Potchefstroom  to  get  his 
belongings  Arnot  found  that  the  woman  who  did  his  washing 
had  left  with,  all  that  he  had  entrusted  to  her,  and  that  the 
Hollander,  who  had  permitted  him  to  graze  his  mule  on  his 
ground  had  ridden  off  with  it  to  Kimberley. 

Writing  home  Arnot  said  :  "  Klerksdorp  is  a  nice  little 
place.  There  is  no  doctor  in  this  neighbourhood  so  I  have 
been  kept  busy  in  prescribing  as  best  I  could.     I  was  very 


26  AFRICAN  APPRENTICESHIP 

successful  with  one  man,  and  also  with  a  little  girl  who  had 
been  afflicted  for  some  time  with  a  most  distressing  complaint. 
When  I  left  she  was  eating  well  and  running  about  with  the 
rest.  I  was  asked  to  stay  in  the  place  as  a  doctor,  which  of 
course  I  refused  to  do,  although  I  could  make  a  good  thing  of 
it  financially.  I  find  that  if  the  healing  of  bodily  sickness  were 
not  kept  strictly  in  the  second  place  it  would  soon  get  the  first 
place  with  me,  and  would  at  once  absorb  all  my  attention." 

Prior  to  this  Arnot  had  had  other  experiences  of  the  need  of 
doctors  amongst  the  scattered  populations  of  the  veld,  as  the 
following  letter  dated,  Potchefstroom,  January  20,  1882,  will 
show  :  "I  have  just  returned  from  another  of  my  mad  freaks. 
I  had  intended  to  visit  the  chief  Monsoia,  and  was  on  the  look- 
out for  a  horse  for  hire,  but  failed  entirely,  so  gave  up  the  idea 
in  the  meantime.  A  day  or  two  afterwards  an  Englishman 
came  and  offered  me  the  use  of  a  big  white  riding  mule  for  a 
very  reasonable  hire.  So  I  accepted  his  offer  and  went.  I 
heard  before  I  started  that  the  Boers  were  doing  what  they 
could  to  get  up  a  fight  among  the  Kaffirs,  but  reports  here  are 
so  absurd  at  times,  and  so  little  to  be  trusted,  that  I  thought 
I  had  better  go  on  and  see  for  myself,  and  I  am  glad  I  did  so, 
for  I  now  understand  the  true  condition  of  affairs  in  that  part. ' 
If  Joubert  succeeds  in  driving  off  the  200  rebel  Boers,  who 
have  joined  Moshite  and  Monchabie,  Monsoia  will  soon  right 
himself,  as  England  has  pledged  herself  to  support  him,  and 
has  at  present  a  military  agent  staying  with  him,  so  it  will 
only  be  a  question  of  a  very  short  time  till  things  are  settled. 
It  took  me  three  days  to  reach  Lichtenburg,  a  distance  of  76 
miles,  which  was  awfully  hard  work  on  a  zigzagging  mule. 
I  had  a  very  good  reception  at  Lichtenburg.  There  are  some 
ten  or  twelve  English  people  there,  and  they  nearly  all  turned 
out,  with  a  few  English-speaking  Boers,  to  see  the  visitor,  and 
to  hear  his  news.  I  was  asked  if  I  was  a  doctor,  or  knew  any- 
thing about  medicine.  I  told  them  I  knew  a  little.  I  was  then 
first  invited  to  go  out  and  join  the  camp  of  the  rebel  Boers, 
and  then  to  come  to  Lichtenburg  as  doctor,  as  the  nearest 
medical  man  they  had  was  a  German  missionary,  some  30 
miles  away,  and  who  practices  homseopathy,  in  consequence 
of  which  they  are  in  love  with  the  system." 

The  route  followed  by  Arnot  and  Selous  led  them  through 
Lichtenburg  and  Zeerust ;   and,  again,  as  in  Natal,  Arnot  met 


AFRICAN   APPRENTICESHIP  27 

men  returning  from  war.  This  time  it  was  the  Boers  who  had 
been  in  conflict  with  the  Baralongs,  one  of  the  Bechuana  tribes, 
and  they  had  with  them  large  droves  of  cattle  which  they  had 
captured  from  the  natives. 

Before  reaching  Zeerust  Mr.  Selous  pressed  on  ahead  to  the 
Limpopo,  where  he  spent  some  time  in  collecting  natural 
history  specimens  for  the  British  and  Continental  museums. 
This  left  Arnot  alone  for  a  time.  The  season  was  so  hot  that 
progress  had  to  be  made  at  night.  On  one  occasion  Arnot 
says  he  had  to  walk  for  five  hours  through  thick  bush,  in  front 
of  the  waggons,  with  a  lantern  to  trace  the  road,  and  when  no 
road  could  be  found  he  had  to  use  his  compass. 

The  journey  from  Zeerust  to  the  Limpopo  was  much  enjoyed, 
the  river  being  described  by  Arnot  as  a  "  beautiful  river  indeed. 
The  wild  animals,"  he  said,  "  became  more  numerous  here — 
lions,  leopards,  etc.  ;  but  with  a  scherm  of  thorns  all  round  at 
night,  and  a  large  fire  blazing,  there  is  no  danger.  When  the 
nights  are  dark  they  keep  one  awake  with  their  roaring.  I  shall 
be  glad  when  we  reach  Bamangwato,  and  I  can  get  settled  down 
to  the  language.  I  feel  so  useless,  and  sometimes  impatient, 
when  so  many  all  round  sadly  need  the  Gospel,  and  I  cannot 
converse  with  them." 

A  long  continued  drought  in  these  parts  compelled  the 
travellers  to  remain  for  a  fortnight  at  this  spot  for  the  sake 
of  water  for  the  oxen,  and  whilst  here  the  waggon  was  daily 
visited  by  Bushmen,  of  whom  Arnot  says  :  "  These  men  are 
supposed  to  be  the  lowest  type  of  humanity.  They  live  in  a 
most  primitive  fashion  ;  the  Whole  company  will  sleep  in  a 
little  hollow  in  the  ground  under  a  bush  ;  they  come  round  the 
waggon  for  any  scraps  of  meat  and  offal  throwTi  away.  Grow- 
ing no  grain,  they  live  on  wild  fruit,  and  on  animals  which  they 
kill  with  their  poisoned  arrows.  Their  little  children  at  once 
proved  the  connection  of  these  people  with  the  whole  human 
race.  Their  ways  at  play,  and  their  sweet  ringing  laugh,  are 
the  same  as  those  of  our  own  children  at  home." 

Heavy  rains  falling,  the  journey  was  made  across  the  dry 
desert  lying  between  the  Limpopo  and  Shoshong,  the  latter 
place  being  reached  on  March  11th,  1882,  after  thirty-six  days' 
travelling  from  Potchefstroom. 

Arnot  stayed  in  Shoshong  for  three  months,  and  had  in  that 
time  a  wonderful  and  an  encouraging  object  lesson  of  the  power 


28  AFRICAN  APPRENTICESHIP 

of  the  Gospel  over  an  African  chief.  Shoshong  was  then  the 
capital  of  the  Bamangwato,  and  Khama  had  been  in  power  for 
ten  years,  long  enough  to  demonstrate  what  a  Christian  ruler 
with  autocratic  power  could  do  for  his  people.  No  other  South 
African  chief  has  ever  attempted  one  half  of  what  Khama  has 
done  for  those  under  his  rule. 

The  late  Mr.  Hepburn  was  one  of  the  greatest  influences  in 
Khama's  life,  and  he  and  his  devoted  wife  were  at  Shoshong 
at  the  time  of  Arnot's  visit.  They  showed  much  kindness  to 
the  visitor,  and  he  profited  much  from  his  intercourse  with 
them.  A  friendship  was  formed  which  became  one  of  the  most 
valuable  of  the  many  fellowships  made  by  Arnot  in  Africa. 
Something  of  his  opinion  of  Hepburn  may  be  gathered  from 
the  following  :  "  The  record  of  Mr.  Hepburn's  life  work, 
Twenty  Years  in  Khama's  Country,  is  a  most  inspiring  book, 
and  might  well  be  placed  in  the  same  category  as  the  lives  of 
Brainerd  and  Henry  Marty n."  Mr.  Hepburn  gave  Arnot 
lessons  in  Sechuana  daily  for  two  months  until  he  and  his 
family  left  for  England  on  furlough.  With  the  language  Arnot 
made  rapid  progress,  and  in  return  for  the  help  given  to  him 
by  Hepburn  spent  a  part  of  his  time  in  teaching  English  to  the 
two  sons  of  his  friends.  He  was  also  kept  busy  in  doctoring 
the  natives,  and  on  Sundays  he  conducted  services  for  the  white 
residents  (the  traders  and  their  wives)  to  the  number  of  four- 
teen. Just  at  that  time  traders  were  in  Shoshong  from  Lake 
Ngami,  the  Matabele  country,  and  from  the  Zambesi. 

Concerning  Shoshong  itself,  Arnot  wrote  ;  "  There  is  a  great 
amount  of  sickness  and  death  in  the  tovm  ;  and  no  wonder, 
when  one  thinks  of  20,000  people  being  crowded  together  as 
close  as  they  could  well  be  packed.  Two  persons  can  scarcely 
walk  abreast  between  the  houses,  which  form  such  a  perfect 
maze  to  me,  that  when  visiting  the  sick  I  have  to  be  guided  in 
and  out.  Their  idea  is  that  this  plan  affords  greater  protection 
from  their  enemies.  The  town  is  sadly  in  need  of  a  hospital  as 
there  is  nothing  more  difficult  than  to  attend  to  people  in  the 
midst  of  such  a  mass  of  filthy  humanity.  The  surgical  cases 
are  the  most  trying,  of  which  I  will  not  harass  you  with  particu- 
lars. Yesterday,  however,  I  was  called  upon  to  cut  a  young 
man's  leg  off  that  had  got  fearfully  smashed.  I  was  just  pre- 
paring to  put  him  under  chloroform  when  he  began  to  sink 
rapidly,  and  died  in  a  few  hours.    There  is  another  similar  case, 


AFRICAN  APPRENTICESHIP  29 

which  I  have  taken  on  hand,  and  which  is  causing  me  a  good 
deal  of  anxiety.  Still,  God  has  helped  mc  wonderfully.  Once 
I  master  the  language  1  will  not  lay  myself  out  for  this  sort 
of  work,  but  meantime  I  rejoice  at  the  opportunity  of  getting 
among  the  people.  I  think  I  have  already  gained  the  confidence 
of  some  who  at  first  treated  me  with  suspicion. 

"  The  moral  condition  of  Shoshong  is  in  many  respects  most 
exemplary.  Since  coming  here  I  have  not  seen  an  intoxicated 
person,  either  black  or  white,  which  could  not  be  said  by  anyone 
for  the  same  period,  in  any  other  town  in  Africa  where  the  white 
man  trades.  The  chief,  Khama,  has  put  down  the  drink  traffic 
most  effectually.  Not  only  has  he  forbidden  it  among  his  own 
people,  but  he  will  not  allow  the  liquor  to  pass  through  his 
country  ;  consequently  none  has  passed  into  Central  Africa 
from  this  side  for  some  years,  unless  it  be  a  very  small  quantity 
occasionally  smuggled  in.  If  a  trader  is  found  out  once  bring- 
ing drink  into  the  place,  even  for  the  use  of  the  white  people, 
he  is  turned  off  Khama's  territory,  and  never  allowed  to  enter 
it  again. 

"  In  many  respects  Khama  is  a  noble  chief,  and  it  would  be 
well  if  other  rulers  imitated  his  unselfish  Christian  policy. 
None  of  his  people  are  allowed  to  want,  if  he  can  help  it.  If 
they  are  too  poor  to  buy,  he  provides  them  with  a  stock  of 
cattle,  the  increase  of  which  belongs  to  the  poor  man  ;  and 
thus  Khama  has  distributed  during  the  last  few  years  thousands 
of  cattle  to  such  of  his  people  as  have  suffered  through  loss  of 
crops,  cattle  disease,  etc. 

"  Although  he  has  stopped  all  beer-drinking  amongst  his 
people,  and  put  down  many  of  the  revolting  heathen  customs 
in  which  formerly  they  delighted,  yet  they  all  like  their  chief, 
and  would  almost  to  a  man  die  for  him. 

"  Now  and  then  Khama  gets  up  hunts  on  a  large  scale  to 
kill  the  larger  kinds  of  game.  These  hunting  parties  go  far 
into  the  desert,  and  often  suffer  greatly  from  want  of  food  and 
water  ;  but  the  chief  is  always  the  first  to  go  without  his  share, 
and  will  not  help  himself  until  all  are  supplied,  so  that  there  is 
not  the  slightest  grumbling  on  the  part  of  his  followers. 

"  In  spite,  however,  of  all  the  chief  can  do,  very  revolting 
practices  are  carried  on  secretly  among  his  people — such  as 
the  murdering  of  children.  A  deformed  child  is  at  once  put 
to  death  ;  twins  are  seldom  allowed  to  live.    If  any  peculiar 


80  AFRICAN  APPRENTICESHIP 

circumstances  happen  at  the  birth  of  a  child,  or  any  suspicious 
omen  occur,  such  as  the  call  of  certain  animals  or  birds,  the 
child  is  murdered.  The  ordinary  way  is  to  pour  boiling  water 
down  the  child's  throat,  and  carry  the  body  out  to  the  wolves  ; 
they  also  cast  out  the  old  people.  Some  of  them  still  cut  their 
bodies,  use  enchantments,  etc.,  but  their  heathen  customs  are 
not  openly  observed.    (This  was  written  in  1882.) 

"  I  can,  nevertheless,  say  confidently  that  one  would  see 
more  vice  and  open  immorality  on  a  Saturday  night  in  the 
High  Street,  Glasgow,  than  would  be  seen  in  twelve  months. 

"  The  clothing  of  the  people  is  scanty,  but  sufficient.  They 
are  naturally  civil  and  polite  to  each  other,  and  when  address- 
ing an  older  or  superior  person,  finish  every  sentence  with  '  my 
father,'  or  '  my  mother.'  Both  young  and  old  address  me 
as  '  my  father,'  and  often  as  '  my  lord  '  ;  but  it  is  merely 
civility. 

"  Shoshong  is  built  and  ordered  after  the  manner  of  a  military 
camp,  and  everything  is  done  by  word  of  command.  The 
gardens  are  tilled  at  the  word  of  the  chief  ;  the  crops  cannot 
be  gathered  in  till  the  order  is  given.  Each  man  is  supposed 
to  be  able  to  muster  a  gun  or  so  many  spears.  The  people  in  the 
town  live  together  in  what  might  be  called  regiments,  the  huts 
of  each  regiment  being  clustered  around  the  hut  of  its  captain  ; 
and  around  the  town  there  is  a  double  row  of  outposts,  extend- 
ing a  long  way  into  the  veld. 

"  I  have  seen  two  turn-outs  of  the  army  since  I  came.  On 
one  occasion  an  attack  was  expected  from  the  Matabele.  When 
the  report  first  came  every  man  at  once  armed  himself,  and  all 
began  jointly  to  get  themselves  into  training  for  fighting.  For 
several  mornings  in  succession  they  had  a  grand  race  of  six 
miles.  It  was  a  strange  sight  to  see  ten  or  twelve  thousand 
men,  in  all  sorts  of  fantastic  dresses,  running  along  as  hard  as 
they  could,  all  the  time  shouting  and  boasting  of  what  they 
could  do. 

"  The  other  day  as  the  wife  of  one  of  the  residents  was 
recovering  from  an  attack  of  fever  she  took  a  great  longing 
for  a  pheasant,  and  could  scarcely  eat  anything  else.  Her 
husband  could  not  leave  her  to  go  and  hunt  for  one,  so  I  started 
off  in  the  afternoon  and  walked  to  some  hills  12  miles  away 
where  I  shot  one  pheasant  and  one  guinea-fowl,  and  returned 
in  time  for  tea,  doing  24  miles  in  si>-  hours.     So  you  must 


AFRICAN  APPRENTICESHIP  81 

not  think  of  me  as  a  weary-looking,  white-faced  character 
wandering  through  the  country.  I  am  much  heavier  in  weight 
and  stronger  every  way  than  I  ever  hoped  to  be  in  this  country. 
Ah,  well  !  This  little  brag  is  just  en  passant  by  way  of 
giving  you  confidence,  you  know." 


CHAPTER  III 

THROUGH    THE    DESERT 

FROM  the  time  of  Arnot's  arrival  Khama  was  very 
friendly  to  him,  and  promised  to  help  him  on  his 
journey  to  the  Zambesi  with,  guides  and  servants, 
whenever  he  was  ready  to  go.  It  was  eventually  decided  to 
take  the  desert  route  to  the  north.  Khama  told  Arnot  that  he 
was  sending  Tinka,  his  chief  hunter,  to  the  Mababi,  at  the 
extreme  north  of  the  Kalahari  desert,  and  that  he  could  go 
with  him  if  he  choose.  He  promised  him  every  help  and  com- 
fort in  travelling  with  Tinka,  who  was  a  man  of  experience  and 
knew  every  inch  of  the  ground,  and  had  strict  orders  not  to  run 
any  risks  in  trying  to  cross  the  desert.  Khama  also  placed  one 
of  his  waggons,  with  a  span  of  oxen,  at  the  disposal  of  Arnot  to 
take  him  as  far  as  the  Mababi,  which  was  as  far  as  they  could  ga 
without  being  hindered  by  the  tsetse  fly.  "  Wherever  this 
insect  is  found,"  Arnot  wrote,  "  the  ox,  the  horse,  and  the 
European  dog  die  from  the  effects  of  its  bite,  although  human 
beings  and  wild  animals  do  not  suffer.  Donkeys  too  are 
supposed  to  be  immune." 

Khama  also  sent  orders  by  Tinka  that  on  reaching  the  Mababi 
Arnot  was  to  have  as  many  Basubia  men  as  he  needed  to  assist 
him  on  to  Panda-ma-tenka,  which  would  be  the  next  stage  of 
his  journey,  and  where  he  could  easily  get  guides  to  take  him 
across  the  Zambesi. 

The  trek  north  began  on  June  8th,  1882.  In  addition  to  the 
waggon  loaned  by  Khama  to  take  his  supplies  as  far  as  the 
Mababi,  Arnot  bought  three  donkeys  for  the  transport  of  his 
belongings  beyond  that  point.  From  the  journey  from  the 
Mababi  to  the  Batoka,  north  of  the  Zambesi,  and  back  (for  at 
that  time  his  intention  was  to  return  to  Shoshong  by  October 
or  November  before  the  unhealthy  season  set  in),  Arnot  only 
took  one  suit  of  clothes,  one  knife,  one  fork  and  spoon,  one 
plate,  one  cup,  some  soap,  beads,  calico,  wheat-meal,  tea,  sugar, 

32 


THROUGH  THE  DESERT  83 

coffee,  a  little  powder  and  lead,  all  of  which  was  packed  into  six 
sailor  bolster  bags  which  a  Glasgow  sailmaker  had  made  for 
him. 

Khama  and  his  wife  joined  in  the  farewell,  the  chief  ex- 
pressing the  wish  that  God  would  be  with  him  to  save  him  by 
the  way,  and  to  bring  him  back  in  peace.  His  wife  said  with 
tears  :  "  May  God  go  with  you,  and  remain  with  us,  and  fill  you 
with  blessing."  A  number  of  native  Christians  gave  him 
presents  for  the  way.  First  one  and  then  another  appeared 
by  the  side  of  the  road  with  bundles  and  bags  of  food  and 
supplies  for  the  journey.  The  half-coloured  butcher  of  the  town 
rolled  a  bundle  into  the  waggon,  saying :  "  These  sausages  are 
well  spiced,  sir ;  I  have  been  up  all  night  making  them ;  hang 
them  to  the  roof  of  the  waggon."  "  Nothing,"  said  Arnot, 
"  could  have  been  finer  or  more  encouraging  than  the  way 
those  natives  seriously  o■^\^led  the  claims  that  the  Gospel  had 
upon  them  and  the  way  they  did  their  utmost  to  speed  me  on." 

The  experiences  of  the  desert  journey  are  best  told  in 
Arnot's  own  words  : 

"  June  is  not  a  good  month  for  travelling  in  the  Kalahari 
desert.  The  water  holes  and  pans  begin  to  dry  up  ;  the  '  frost 
by  night  and  the  sun  by  day,'  -\vither  the  grass.  As  we  zig- 
zagged about  from  water  hole  to  water  hole  it  seemed  that  we 
were  constantly  on  the  brink  of  dire  disaster.  Usually  the  guide 
would  report  that  there  was  only  water  sufficient  for  half  of 
our  oxen,  so  it  was  necessary  to  outspan  a  mile  or  so  to  the 
windward  of  the  water  holes.  Nothing  could  surpass  the 
beauty  of  those  desert  nights,  when  for  hours  I  would  sit  listen- 
ing to  the  natives  or  trying  to  exercise  the  Sechuana  that  I 
had  learned  at  Shoshong.  For  the  first  few  weeks,  trees,  rugged 
hills  and  great  dry  river  beds  covered  the  country. 

"  There  are  many  wild  animals  all  over  the  country  through 
which  we  have  to  pass.  It  is  only  in  hunting  these,  however, 
that  there  is  any  real  danger.  Every  night,  when  travelling, 
the  natives  cut  down  a  lot  of  thorn  bushes,  and  make  with  them 
a  thick  fence,  called  a  '  scherm,'  and  two  large  fires  are  placed 
at  the  opening,  thus  forming  a  complete  protection.  Very 
seldom  will  a  lion  break  into  a  '  scherm,'  although  at  times 
they  walk  round  it  all  night.  The  principal  danger  is  in  travel- 
ling by  night,  and  where  water  is  scarce  one  is  compelled  to  do 
so  ;  but  if  the  party  is  kept  well  together,  and  not  allowed  to 
c 


34  THROUGH  THE  DESERT 

scatter,  there  is  very  little  danger,  as  a  lion  will  not  attack  a 
company." 

"  Once  when  travelling  up  the  Crocodile  River  (on  the  way 
to  Shoshong)  during  the  night  I  was  walking  behind  Mr.  Selous' 
waggon,  and  a  young  man  was  driving  some  loose  cattle  not 
far  from  me.  On  reaching  the  halting  place,  towards  morning, 
the  cattle  came  up  all  right,  but  the  young  driver  was  not  with 
them.  Search  was  made  in  all  directions,  but  ■without  result, 
and  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  a  lion  had  carried  him  off, 
even  though  he  was  but  a  little  distance  from  the  party. 

"  Yesterday  (June  13th)  we  sent  the  oxen  ten  miles  off  to 
get  a  drink.  Poor  animals  !  they  suffer  much  from  thirst.  The 
hunters  too  have  suffered  from  hunger.  They  have  as  yet  not 
been  fortunate  in  finding  game,  and  have  had  to  go  for  days 
with  only  a  little  corn,  although  it  is  the  king's  special  hunting 
party.  Because  of  the  famine  which  threatens  Shoshong  they 
started  with  but  a  small  quantity  of  food,  counting  on  getting 
some  on  the  road. 

"  I  am  writing  (June  18th)  in  the  centre  of  the  north-east 
part  of  the  great  Kalahari  desert,  hoping  to  meet  some  native 
at  the  Botletle  River  going  down  to  Shoshong.  We  are  losing 
no  time  by  the  way,  as  we  shall  not  have  any  water  for  nearly 
two  days  and  two  nights.  I  have  a  fair  supply  of  food  with  me  ; 
for  after  I  had  laid  in,  as  I  thought,  a  reasonable  store,  I  found 
on  starting  that  a  bag  of  rusks,  a  large  loaf  of  bread,  a  small  crock 
of  butter,  some  oranges  from  the  Transvaal,  a  water  melon, 
etc.,  had  been  sent  to  the  waggon  for  me.  I  am  beginning  to 
know  my  fellow  travellers  a  little  more.  Tinka  is  undoubtedly 
a  decent  fellow,  and  I  think  a  true  Christian.  At  first,  how- 
ever, I  felt  a  peculiar  sense  of  loneliness  in  finding  mj^self  sur- 
rounded by  black  faces,  with  no  one  near  to  whom  I  could  speak 
in  my  own  tongue,  but  I  have  got  over  that.  Two  other  com- 
panies of  hunters,  going  on  to  the  Botletle  River,  have  joined 
us.  They  are  a  wild  lot,  and,  away  from  their  own  town  and 
chief,  seem  to  enjoy  their  liberty  immensely.  The  camp  at  night 
would  make  a  fine  picture  on  canvas  :  ten  or  twelve  fires,  and 
round  each  a  crowd  of  black  faces,  some  of  the  men  singing, 
talking,  laughing,  scolding,  and  others  tearing  antelope's  bones 
to  pieces.  All  around  is  pitchy  dark,  made  doubly  so  by  the 
shade  of  the  dense  forest  and  bush. 

"  We  have  just  got  to  another  well,  which  is,  however,  almost 


THROUGH  THE  DESERT  35 

dry,  and  have  travelled  40  hours  from  the  last  water,  during 
which  we  only  stopped  for  five  hours  ;  the  oxen  have  been 
without  water  for  three  days.  As  there  is  not  water  enough 
for  the  oxen  and  donkeys  they  have  to  go  half  a  day  further 
on.  I  was  glad,  I  assure  you,  to  lie  down  and  get  a  little  sleep. 
The  endurance  of  these  people  astonishes  me.  Some  of  them 
walked  the  whole  time  ;  and  walking  two  days  and  a  night 
through  loose  sand  is  no  easy  thing.  The  first  day  we  stopped 
two  hours  for  meals,  during  the  night  two  hours  for  sleep,  and 
two  hours  the  next  day  for  food.  Tinka  as  yet  has  no  certain 
news  as  to  water  beyond  the  Botletle  River,  so  it  is  not  clear 
whether  we  shall  go  on  or  not.  I  am  getting  into  training  by 
walking  a  long  distance  every  day,  and  I  can  endure  a  good  deal 
of  thirst.  The  natives  drink  a  lot  of  water,  and  seem  to  suffer 
if  they  are  without  it  for  a  day. 

"  We  have  got  thus  far  (Letlakani  Water,  June  21st),  but  arc 
all  very  tired.  The  waters  were  so  very  low,  and  so  few  and 
far  between  that  we  had  to  push  on,  the  oxen  not  being  able  to 
get  more  than  one  drink  at  the  different  wells.  Poor  animals  ! 
They  do  look  knocked  up,  their  necks  all  raw  mth  the  galling 
of  the  yoke.  The  wells  are  very  deep,  so  that  to  water  a  span 
of  oxen  is  no  light  task,  the  men  having  to  climb  up  and  down 
with  pails  of  water.  I  am  busy  at  making  boots,  and  have 
successfully  finished  one,  which  fits  admirably  (not  to  speak  of 
appearance)  ;  the  soles  are  giraffe  hide,  the  uppers,  I  think  are 
buffalo,  and  are  stitched  with  narrow  strips  of  zebra  skin. 

"  We  reached  the  Botletle  River  on  June  22nd.  We  stay 
here  eight  days  altogether,  and  are  outspanned  in  a  most  deso- 
late spot.  Behind  is  the  great  Kalahari  desert,  and  before  us 
is  a  great  stretch  of  reeds.  A  strong  wind  is  constantly  blow- 
ing from  the  desert,  bringing  with  it  clouds  of  white  sand  ;  but 
better  to  have  a  wind,  charged  with  sand,  than  one  charged 
with  malaria  from  the  reeds. 

"  I  thought  a  short  account  of  my  first  effort  at  '  village 
work  '  in  the  interior  would  interest  you,  so  will  tell  you  some- 
what about  it.  At  home  in  eight  days  one  could  accomplish  a 
good  deal,  but  not  so  here,  the  distance  being  very  great.  A 
meeting  is  called  for  this  (Sunday)  evening  at  which  I  am  ex- 
pected to  speak  ;  it  will  be  my  first  attempt.  I  am  very 
doubtful  as  to  how  I  shall  make  myself  understood.  Tinka 
asked  me  last  night  to  have  meetings  all  along  the  river,  as 


86  THROUGH  THE   DESERT 

the  people  understood  Sechuana,  which  he  thinks  I  speak 
well  enough  ;  it  will  depend  upon  how  I  get  on  this  evening. 
Nothing  would  be  a  greater  pleasure  to  me,  as  many  of  the 
people  in  these  towns  have  never  heard  the  Gospel. 

"  This  (Sunday)  evening  around  three  fires  we  met  for  prayer 
and  reading.  I  got  on  pretty  well,  and  most  seemed  to  under- 
stand me.  Tinka  and  the  Bamangwato  understood  every  word. 
All  listened  with  eyes  and  mouth  wide  open ;  so  I  am  much 
encouraged,  and  shall  have  meetings  at  all  the  little  towns  we 
come  to.  To  pray  in  another  tongue  seems  very  strange  to  me, 
more  so  than  speaking  in  it  to  the  people.  I  can  scarcely 
describe  the  sense  of  relief  felt,  after  straining  to  understand  the 
language  for  four  months,  to  find  that  I  am  able  in  a  measure 
to  tell  the  story  I  had  come  to  make  known.  God  has  helped 
me  much  more  than  my  heart  will  acknowledge. 

"  On  Monday  I  got  a  young  Christian  from  Shoshong,  named 
Ramosi,  to  accompany  me.  Like  most  native  Christians,  he 
can  read  and  preach  the  Gospel  pretty  well.  We  intended 
visiting  three  villages.  The  first  we  came  to  was  Makoako,  and 
to  reach  it  we  had  a  long,  tiresome  walk,  first  through  deep 
sand,  and  then  for  some  miles  through  reeds  by  a  narrow 
winding  path  in  which  there  was  scarcely  room  for  one  to  walk. 
Arriving  at  Makoako  about  midday,  we  found  nearly  all  the 
inhabitants  asleep.  Taking  our  seats  in  the  kotla  (the  place  of 
public  meeting)  we  awaited  our  audience.  Those  near  awoke 
the  others,  and  soon  they  all  came  trooping  out  of  their  little 
huts.  They  listened  closely.  The  faces  of  most,  however, 
showed  that  they  were  more  occupied  with  criticising  than 
assenting ;  still,  it  is  ours  to  sow,  and  God's  to  give  the  increase. 
The  next  village  we  reached  was  a  small  one.  The  men  were  all 
away  hunting,  and  the  Avomen  out  working,  so  we  passed  on. 
We  were  not,  however,  able  to  reach  the  third  village,  for  my 
feet  were  sorely  blistered,  and  so  were  Ramosi 's.  He  said  the 
road  was  killing  him.  Turning  our  course  for  the  waggon  we 
reached  it  after  again  crossing  the  stretch  of  reeds. 

"  Tuesday  was  a  very  stormy  day,  the  sand  blowing  all  round 
in  great  clouds,  and  we  did  not  venture  out ;  my  feet  were  also 
too  sore.  On  Wednesday  we  started  again  on  the  donkeys  for  a 
village  called  Sosineu,  which  we  reached  about  midday,  and 
found  it  quite  a  town.  As  we  entered,  the  donkeys  caused  a 
great  sensation.    I  suppose  it  was  the  first  time  such  animals  had 


THROUGH  THE   DESERT  37 

been  seen  there.  The  people  are  Makalako,  from  the  Matabele 
country.  They  all  understand  Sechuana  well,  but  are  wild  and 
savage  looking.  Taking  our  seats  in  the  kotla,  one  of  the  head- 
men sent  a  messenger  to  call  the  people,  and  he  went  round 
shouting  in  a  most  frantic  manner.  Every  time  he  reached  the 
climax  of  his  sentence  he  threw  his  arms  into  the  air  and  jumped 
up,  as  if  he  were  calling  the  people  to  a  war  dance.  His  cry 
was  for  all  the  people,  men,  women  and  children,  to  come  for 
'  Sunday.'  In  a  short  time  a  large  crowd  gathered,  the  men 
sitting  in  one  large  ring,  the  women  in  another,  and  we  continued 
the  meeting  for  fully  two  hours.  I  had  of  course  to  keep  very 
closely  to  passages  of  Scriptures,  such  as  the  Lord's  words  in 
John  X.  The  Shepherd  giving  his  life  for  the  sheep  was  an  illus- 
tration that  seemed  to  grip  their  attention.  It  was  one  they 
could  understand  even  better  than  people  at  home.  They  have, 
however,  little  idea  of  what  sin  is  ;  but  the  Spirit  of  God  is  able 
to  convince  of  sin,  and  may  please  to  use  a  very  feeble  word 
for  that  end.  Ramosi  spoke  very  earnestly  on  the  same  subject. 
It  was  evening  ere  we  reached  the  waggon. 

"  In  the  Kalahari  desert,  through  which  we  have  just  come, 
wandering  bands  of  Basarawa  or  Bushmen,  Bakalahari,  and 
Bakalaka  are  found,  all  runaway  remnants  of  tribes  and  races 
living  in  the  countries  adjoining.  Certainly  these  wild  men 
appear  to  us  to  be  in  a  very  degenerate  condition,  but  their 
faculties  and  senses  are  sharpened  to  a  remarkable  degree. 
As  they  move  about  they  allow  nothing  to  escape  their  notice  ; 
they  '  read  '  the  path,  and  can  tell,  not  only  the  name  of  an 
animal  that  may  have  crossed  it  during  the  night,  but  the  time 
of  night  that  it  happened  to  pass.  They  also  seem  to  know 
instinctively  where  water  is  likely  to  be  found. 

"  Crossing  the  Botletle  we  moved  on  slowly,  finding  a  fair 
supply  of  water,  but  the  trees  were  very  close  together  in  places 
and  my  axe  was  kept  very  busy.  At  Tontgaru  we  rested  for 
several  days  ;  our  Bushman  guide  assured  us  that  for  ten  days 
or  so  beyond  we  should  find  no  water  in  any  of  the  pans.  My 
men  shot  the  game  down  and  feasted  to  their  hearts'  content, 
loading  up  the  waggon  with  dried  meat.  Giraffes,  ostriches, 
wildebeeste,  elephants,  and  many  other  species,  come  round 
the  water  at  night  to  drink.  We  spent  our  last  day  at  Tontgaru 
cleaning  and  filling  our  water  barrels,  setting  aside  one  keg  for 
Khama's  hunting  horse  that  Tinka  had  brought  with  him.     In 


^•1837 


s 


38  THROUGH   THE   DESERT 

the  cool  of  the  evening  the  oxen  were  inspanned,  and  without 
a  word  we  quietly  moved  away  into  the  long  stretch  that  lay 
before  us.  The  sand  proved  to  be  unusually  heavy ;  the  dry 
air  and  blistering  sun  seemed  as  if  they  would  dry  us  all  up  like 
so  many  Egyptian  mummies,  in  spite  of  the  pint  of  water  we 
allowed  ourselves  three  times  a  day. 

"  We  are  now  getting  well  north,  and  I  feel  somehow  nearer 
home  by  being  again  in  sight  of  the  '  Great  Bear  '  constellation. 
It  is,  however,  much  warmer  here.  This  is  the  coldest  month  of 
the  year  ;  yet  during  the  day  it  is  very  hot,  about  85°  in  the 
shade  ;  but  the  nights  are  decidedly  cold.  I  get  on  pretty  well 
with  the  people  ;  we  have  prayer  and  reading  every  night  and 
morning,  and  on  Sunday  in  the  afternoon.  I  do  not  under- 
stand the  language  sufficiently  to  appeal  personally  to  their 
hearts.  I  could  not  be  in  a  better  school,  however,  for  learning 
the  words  and  idioms  of  the  people  ;  yet  it  would  be  a  treat  to 
meet  someone  with  whom  I  could  speak  in  my  ovm.  tongue. 

"  I  did  not  tell  you  in  my  last  that  when  I  was  at  the  Bot- 
letle  River  there  was  much  fever,  and  many  of  the  natives  died 
of  it.  Three  of  our  company  were  ill,  but  I  had  not  even  a 
headache.  My  sleeping  accommodation  is  not  the  best,  rough, 
but  comfortable.  When  travelling  I  alwaj^s  sleep  with  my 
clothes  on.  In  Setobi  I  have  a  very  faithful  and  trusty  servant ; 
he  takes  charge  of  all  my  property,  and  looks  after  my  clothes 
and  goods  as  though  they  were  his  own.  Nearly  all  my  spare 
time  is  occupied  in  getting  up  the  Sechuana  grammar,  and  in 
learning  portions  of  Scripture  in  Sechuana.  It  is  difficult  to 
read  by  the  fires,  and  candle  light  is  too  expensive  for  much 
reading,  so  that  I  spend  the  dark  evenings  mostly  in  thinking. 
Taking  it  all  round  my  days  pass  very  pleasantly  indeed,  and 
also  very  quickly.  There  is  nothing  that  I  want  that  I  have 
not  got." 

"  Since  leaving  the  Botletle  we  have  been  travelling 
through  a  wild  but  beautiful  country  teeming  with  game  of  all 
sorts,  I  have  installed  Setobi  as  my  huntsman.  The  game  is 
large  and  not  difficult  to  shoot  so  that  he  is  well  able  to  keep 
the  pot  going.  It  is  surprising,  however,  to  see  hoAv  much 
these  people  can  eat.  Tinka  shot  two  giraffes  on  Saturday. 
The  flesh  was  brought  in  late  at  night.  On  Sunday  morning 
they  began  dividing  and  cooking,  and  by  Sunday  evening  only 
^  few  bones  and  a  few  strings  of  meat  hung  up  to  dry  were  all 


THROUGH  THE   DESERT  39 

that  were  left  of  nearly  one-and-a-half  tons  of  meat.  There 
were  only  20  eaters.  My  own  appetite  in  fact  surprises  rae, 
but  of  course  I  am  living  entirely  in  the  open  air,  and  walking 
a  good  deal  every  day.  I  can  take  a  hearty  meal  of  two  or  three 
pounds  of  meat  and  never  dream  of  eating  anything  with  it. 

"  I  will  tell  you  lots  of  wild  beast  stories  when  I  come  home. 
But  I  do  not  think  you  would  like  them  so  well  if  you  heard 
the  beasts  themselves  howling  round  all  night.  My  !  the 
roaring  and  yelping  of  some  of  those  animals  in  a  pitch-dark 
night  at  one's  very  ear  does  make  one  jump  and  grasp  one's 
gun  almost  instinctively.  There  is  a  terror  in  the  roar  of  a  lion 
which  quite  petrifies  its  victim,  and  it  has  somewhat  the  same 
effect  on  the  animal  nature  of  man." 

It  was  on  July  13th  that  the  party  started  from  Tontgaru 
Water,  which  is  quite  close  to  Kama-Kama  on  Livingstone's 
route.  Arnot's  narrative  proceeds  :  "  Here  we  took  in  our  final 
supply  of  water  and  started  across  the  thirst-land  for  the  Mababi 
flats.  Tinka  having  sent  on  some  men  to  look  for  water,  we 
went  on  for  three  days  and  nights  with  scarcely  a  stop.  It 
was  hard  work,  the  bush  being  so  very  dense.  I  calculated  that 
we  travelled  40  miles  in  24  hours,  or  about  30  miles  as  the  crow 
flies,  in  a  N.W.  by  W.  direction. 

"  On  the  third  day  we  fell  in  with  traces  of  the  disaster  that 
befell  the  great  Boer  trek  of  1878-9,  when  only  a  remnant 
of  some  200  families  survived.  Waggons,  Scotch  carts,  and 
other  vehicles,  ploughs,  and  bones  of  horses  were  scattered 
along  the  trail.  On  the  fifth  day  the  bones  of  oxen  lay  white 
around  the  large  trees,  where  the  poor  animals  had  died  in 
scores  and  hundreds.  Then  came  the  graves  of  the  voortrekkers 
themselves,  young  and  old. 

"  Our  oxen  at  last  showed  signs  of  collapse,  so  we  sent  them 
on  without  the  waggon.  Fortunately  for  us  a  company  of 
wandering  Bushmen  came  along,  and  at  our  urgent  request 
and  fair  offer  of  pay,  they  began  to  look  round  for  signs  of  water. 
Fixing  on  a  place  where  a  certain  bulbous  root  grew,  the  little 
men  began  with  vigour  to  scoop  out  the  sand  with  their  hands 
until  an  inverted  cone-shaped  hollow  of  about  nine  feet  deep 
had  been  made  in  the  loose  sand.  Then  one  Bushman,  who 
looked  like  the  master  water-finder  of  the  company,  took  several 
lengths  of  reed  in  his  hand  and  slid  down  head  first  to  the 
foot  of  the  hole,     Taking  one  length  of  reed,  the  end  of  which 


40  THROUGH  THE   DESERT 

had  already  been  stopped  up  with  grass  to  prevent  the  sand 
entering,  he  pushed  it  Httle  by  Httle  into  the  ground.  Then  he 
added  a  second  length  of  reed  to  the  first,  making  a  workman- 
hke  joint  with  a  lump  of  gum.  To  the  end  of  the  second  reed 
he  now  applied  his  mouth,  and  after  sucking  and  blowing  for 
some  time,  looked  up  over  his  shoulder  with  a  smile  of  satis- 
faction. He  had  tasted  water,  he  said,  but  we  would  have  to 
wait.  Six  hours  or  so  later  he  slid  down  the  hole,  taking  wth 
him  this  time  a  tortoise  shell,  and,  again  applying  his  mouth 
to  the  reed,  sucked  up  a  mouthful  of  water  at  a  time,  squirting 
it  out  of  the  corner  of  his  mouth  and  filling  the  tortoise  shell. 
We  all  drank  heartily  and  thankfully,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
next  day  he  managed  to  fill  our  smaller  kegs  with  the  frothy 
liquid. 

"  The  oxen  and  the  donkeys  did  not  return  until  Wednesday 
evening,  having  had  to  go  two  days'  journey  before  thej'^  found 
water,  and  then  only  a  little  pan  of  surface  water  which  they 
emptied.  We  found  afterwards  that,  between  that  and  the 
Mababi  River  (two  days  further  on),  there  was  not  a  drop  to 
be  had.  The  cattle  could  not  have  gone  a  day  further,  as  they 
had  already  been  six  days  without  water — the  longest  time 
they  have  been  known  to  live  without  it — so  that  but  for  that 
little  pan  of  water,  which  was  found  almost  unexpectedly,  we 
should  have  lost  both  oxen  and  donkeys,  and  as  Tinka  says, 
'  very  few  of  the  people  with  us  would  have  got  through  '  ;  for 
when  the  oxen  returned  that  evening,  the  Masaroa  sucked  out 
of  the  ground  the  last  drop  of  water  they  could  procure. 

"  As  for  myself,  a  verj^  little  more  of  that  sort  of  fare  would 
have  been  too  much  for  me.  I  do  not  mean  that  I  suffered 
seriously  from  thirst,  but  I  got  into  a  very  reduced  state. 

"  After  gi\'ing  the  cattle  a  night's  rest,  we  started  early 
on  Thursday  morning  for  the  Mababi,  Tinka  and  the  other 
huntsmen  of  the  company  riding  on  to  find  the  nearest  water, 
as  we  had  only  a  very  limited  supply  in  the  waggon.  I  had 
but  a  pint  and  a  half  for  a  four  days'  journey  ;  nor  had  we  any 
meat,  no  game  having  been  killed  in  the  desert.  I  had  meal 
with  me,  but  could  not  cook  it  for  want  of  water,  so  my  staple 
supply  was  a  few  dry  peaches  which  I  had  brought  from  Sho- 
shong.  On  Friday,  July  21st,  we  were  still  a  long  way  from 
the  Mababi  River.  I  had  finished  my,  supply  of  water  the  day 
before,  and  the  natives  declared  that  they  were  all  dead. 


THROUGH  THE   DESERT  41 

"  My  conviction  was  that  we  should  not  suffer  from  thirst 
much  longer.  I  was  lying  back  in  the  waggon,  and  had  just 
mentioned  to  the  Lord  that  promise :  '  Their  water  shall  be 
sure,'  when  a  young  man  of  the  company  asked  me  if  I  wished 
to  drink.  Three  Masaroa,  sent  by  Tinka,  had  brought  three 
calabashes  full  of  water  for  us,  so  that  we  all  had  a  drink.  The 
next  thing  was  to  try  and  find  a  little  food.  Setobi  was  too 
much  knocked  up  to  go  and  hunt,  so  I  started  with  one  of 
Tinka's  men  to  look  for  something.  We  walked  a  long  way 
through  thick  wood  but  got  nothing ;  and  then  finding  we  were 
too  far  from  the  waggon  to  be  sure  of  meeting  it  again,  we 
decided  to  make  for  the  Mababi  River. 

"  After  wandering  along  through  thick  wood  and  bush,  and 
patches  of  long,  reedy  grass,  we  struck  a  footpath  leading  in 
the  direction  of  the  river.  Just  as  the  sun  was  sinking  I  shot 
an  antelope  ;  it  rolled  over,  then  got  up  and  ran  into  some  bush. 
The  man  who  was  with  me  said  it  would  soon  die,  but  that  we 
must  push  on  as  the  river  was  very  far  away  yet.  So  on  avc 
went,  the  night  setting  in  clear,  so  that  we  could  see  the  path. 
On  and  on  we  walked  for  a  long  time,  till  at  last  through  the 
trees  we  saw  the  fires  of  a  camp  of  Masaroa  Bushmen. 

"  All  had  gone  to  sleep  in  circular  holes  about  the  size  of 
large  cart  wheels.  A  small  fire  burnt  in  the  centre.  Hearing 
us  approach,  the  men  sprang  instantly  to  their  feet  with  their 
weapons  in  their  hands,  but  seeing  that  I  was  a  friend  and  not 
a  lion  or  a  Matabele  warrior,  they  made  room  for  us  to  lie  down 
beside  one  of  their  fires.  Towards  morning  lions  came  round 
and  disturbed  the  camp.  A  few  nights  before  a  Jion  had 
dragged  a  woman  off  from  one  of  the  sleeping  groups.  The  men 
ran  after  the  brute  with  tufts  of  burning  grass  in  their  hands, 
compelling  him  to  drop  his  prey ;  and  now  that  I  had  come 
along  they  wanted  me  to  dress  her  wounds.  Before  I  left  the 
neighbourhood  she  was  able  to  walk  about  again  and  to  see  to 
her  domestic  duties. 

"  At  the  first  s  reak  of  dawn  all  are  astir  in  these  Bushmen 
encampments.  Even  the  little  children  scatter  like  wild  things 
to  gather  berries,  or  a  red  tree  seed  for  their  morning's  pottage. 
The  women  dig  up  edible  roots  and  bring  water  from  distant 
water  holes  in  the  entrails  of  one  of  the  larger  animals,  or  in 
ostrich  eggs  held  together  in  a  roughly  made  net  bag.  Tortoise 
shells  are  used  as  cooking  pots  unless  their  men  folk  are  rich 


42  THROUGH  THE  DESERT 

enough  to  buy  clay  pots  from  the  Bechuana.  The  men  hunt 
big  game,  using  a  small  bow  and  poisoned  arrows.  One  night 
a  hyena  had  the  audacity  to  come  near  to  some  Bushmen 
sleeping  a  short  distance  from  my  waggon.  They  rose  in  an 
instant  and  were  after  him  with  their  spears.  It  was  a  clear 
moonlight  night,  and  we  saw  the  hunters  racing  along,  one 
on  each  side  of  the  savage  animal,  probing  him  with  their 
spears,  and  nimbly  avoiding  his  side  rushes,  and  the  snap  of 
his  powerful  jaws. 

"  Next  morning  I  started  along  the  river,  which  we  found 
was  close  by,  to  some  Basubia  towns.  On  the  way  I  met  Tinka 
returning.  He  wished  to  wait  for  the  waggon  so  I  gladly  sat 
down  with  him,  and  it  came  along  during  the  day.  These  nine 
long,  long  days  I  shall  not  soon  forget." 

In  visiting  the  villages  in  this  district,  Arnot  says  :  "  I  was 
very  well  received  at  the  first  one.  The  people  all  turned 
out  to  listen  to  the  Word,  and  then  brought  me  three  baskets  of 
corn.  But  at  the  second  my  reception  was  a  saucy  one,  and 
the  people  were  not  much  inclined  to  listen  to  '  this  new  thing  '  ; 
at  first,  in  fact,  they  refused  altogether.  I  asked  them  if  they 
would  hear  me  if  I  returned.  This  they  promised  to  do.  As 
I  was  moving  off  they  changed  their  minds,  and  said  they  would 
hear  me  now.  The  tardiness  of  the  older  men  in  allowing  me 
to  read  the  Word  of  God,  and  to  speak,  seemed  to  have  a  good 
effect  in  rousing  the  curiosity  of  the  young  men,  for  they 
listened  eagerly.  One  man  doubly  repaid  me  for  all  their 
grunts  by  a  deep  sigh,  which  seemed  to  come  from  his  heart, 
and  told  what  the  lips  could  not  have  spoken." 


CHAPTER    IV 

FIRST   EXPERIENCES   WITH    CARRIERS 

AS  Tinka  and  his  men  were  unable,  owing  to  the  preva- 
lence of  the  tsetse  fly,  to  proceed  beyond  the  Mababi 
flat  Arnot  had  to  make  his  o%\ai  arrangements  for 
carriers.  The  first  of  many  trying  experiences  in  engaging  and 
governing  a  body  of  natives  in  Central  Africa  now  came  to 
him.  From  the  villages  of  the  Basubia  Arnot  succeeded  in 
engaging  fifteen  porters.  His  party,  including  five  others  not 
employed  by  him,  but  who  availed  themselves  of  the  oppor- 
tunity of  company  in  crossing  the  thirst-land  which  lies  be- 
tween the  Mababi  and  the  Chobe  River,  started  on  July  31st, 
1882.  Arnot,  with  these  twenty  natives,  and  his  three  donkeys, 
started  off  in  bright  spirits. 

"  The  first  march,"  he  says,  "  was  very  tiresome,  being 
across  the  bed  of  reeds  and  marsh  into  which  the  Mababi 
River  flows — an  immense  bed  of  slush,  and  of  reeds  which 
towered  a  long  way  above  one's  head,  and  at  times  were  so 
close  together  that  one  could  not  see  his  neighbour  a  few  steps 
on  before.  We  found  the  ground,  or  rather  the  layer  of  rotten 
reeds  and  sand,  very  difficult  to  walk  over,  and  we  sank  at 
times  almost  up  to  our  knees.  I  thought  we  should  never 
get  the  donkeys  through  ;  but  by  about  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  we  managed  to  get  on  to  solid  ground,  and  made 
for  a  Masaroa  town,  where  we  expected  to  find  water.  The 
water  pit  being  nearly  dry  there  was  nothing  for  the  poor 
donkeys.  We  remained  there  for  the  night,  as  I  expected  the 
the  waters  in  front  would  also  fail  us,  and  I  had  made  up  my 
mind  not  to  leave  until  my  donkeys  had  a  good  drink.  The 
Masaroa  kept  on  drawing  water,  and  scarcely  left  us  enough  to 
drink  ;  still  I  waited  patiently,  and  after  midnight,  when  the 
water  had  gathered  again,  I  sent  out  six  men  who  emptied  the 
pit,  and  brought  enough  for  the  donkeys. 

''August   1st. — We   were   up   before   daybreak   and   off   as 

43 


44      FIRST  EXPERIENCES  WITH  CARRIERS 

quickly  as  possible,  having  a  long  and  probably  dry  tramp 
before  us.  We  got  on  well  to-day,  having  to  go  over  good  firm 
ground,  though  the  bush  was  very  thick  and  thorny.  Before 
sundown  we  chose  as  comfortable  a  looking  place  as  possible, 
and  in  about  half-an-hour's  time  the  men  made  a  kotla.  The 
Basubia  know  well  how  to  make  one  snug  for  the  night.  They 
cut  down  branches  of  trees  and  stick  them  in  the  ground, 
forming  a  half  circle,  bring  wood  for  the  fire  (we  burn  no  less 
than  seven  big  fires  all  night),  and  cut  grass  to  sleep  on.  Then 
the  bundles  are  brought  and  laid  down  at  my  head,  and 
Sctobi  puts  the  kettle  on  the  fire.  After  supper,  leaving  a 
little  in  the  pots  for  an  early  morning  repast — we  cook  but 
one  meal  a  day — I  read  to  the  men  in  Sechuana  and  pray. 
It  does  not  take  much  rocking  to  send  me  to  sleep. 

''^August  2nd. — Made  a  good  start  this  morning,  and  walked 
a  long  way  ;  the  sand  was  very  heavy,  but  we  pushed  on  hard, 
expecting  to  get  water  at  a  place  called  Caucon.  Arriving  at 
the  pan  we  were  disappointed  to  find  that  elephants  had  been 
there  before  us,  and  that  they  had  drunk  up  all  the  water. 
This  is  rather  a  serious  fix,  as  the  donkeys,  being  almost  done 
up  with  carrying  heavy  loads,  refuse  to  eat,  and  drag  along 
painfully  ;  besides,  our  drinking  water  is  exhausted,  and  we 
are  fully  60  miles  from  the  River  Chobe.  Two  of  the  men  set 
to  work  digging  a  well  at  the  foot  of  the  pan,  but  after  going 
through  a  little  damp  mud,  turned  up  nothing  but  dry  white 
sand.  After  prolonged  consultation  (and,  I  assure  you,  I 
earnestly  consulted  the  Lord  in  the  matter),  I  decided  not  to 
go  on  further,  but  the  next  morning  to  send  the  men  out  in  all 
directions  in  search  of  water.  The  lives  of  the  whole  party 
depended  on  our  finding  water  on  the  morrow,  as  already 
most  of  us  were  much  exhausted,  having  gone  over  70  miles 
of  rough,  weary  country  in  the  last  three  days. 

''August  3rd. — Early  this  morning  I  sent  Setobi  with  six 
men  and  the  donkeys  in  the  direction  of  the  Sambuti  River, 
hoping  to  find  water  thereabouts.  Another  party  set  out  in 
the  direction  of  the  Caucon  Hill  to  dig  a  well  in  a  hollow  there, 
while  I  '  remained  by  the  stuff  '  with  a  Basubia.  We  have 
only  about  half  a  pint  of  water,  which  at  the  present  moment 
is  worth  more  to  me  than  half  a  ton  of  gold.  I  am  hopeful 
that  Setobi  will  find  water  ;  if  he  does  not  he  need  not  return  ; 
but  all  is  well  for  it  is  in  my  Lord's  hands.     As  yet  I  have 


FIRST  EXPERIENCES  WITH  CARRIERS     45 

lacked  no  good  thing,  and  am  persuaded  He  will  not  leave  me 
now.    His  presence  and  His  promises  are  better  than  water. 

"'Afternoon. — Those  who  had  gone  out  to  dig  for  water  re- 
turned without  finding  any,  and,  looking  very  downcast,  they 
all  began  sucking  away  at  the  damp  mud  close  by.  I  tried  to 
suck  some  water  out  of  the  mud,  but  it  was  something  like 
the  dregs  of  a  farmyard  ;  so  I  gave  up,  and  returning  to  the 
kotla  fell  asleep  !  I  had  not  slept  long  when  one  of  the  men 
awoke  me  with  '  Monare  !  look  !  look  !  '  and  I  saw  at  some 
little  distance  a  string  of  men  coming,  each  with  a  calabash 
full  of  water  over  his  shoulder.  Setobi  had  met  a  party  of 
Tinka's  Bushmen  hunters  who  were  following  the  spoor  of 
the  elephants.  The  Bushmen  took  Setobi  to  one  of  their 
secret  water  stores,  where  the  donkeys  got  a  drink,  and  enough 
water  was  also  left  to  succour  us.  I  need  not  say  how  thankful 
I  felt  for  this  deliverance. 

''''August  Uh. — We  were  a  little  longer  in  starting  this  morn- 
ing as  I  had  to  readjust  the  men's  bundles  ;  they  were  begin- 
ning to  complain  about  the  weight  of  them.  We  made  about 
30  miles  to-day  over  heavy  sand,  passed  the  Gorgoli  Hills,  and 
camped  in  the  midst  of  a  very  dense  forest,  as  we  found  we 
could  not  get  through  it  before  sunset. 

^''August  5th. — Had  a  long  tramp  to-day  through  a  beautiful 
country,  thickly  wooded  and  full  of  game.  During  the  last 
few  days  I  have  seen  quite  a  lot  of  giraffes  ;  the  country  here  is 
full  of  them.  We  arrived  in  the  evening  at  a  pit  with  a  little 
water  in  it,  which  we  reached  after  some  digging.  The  men 
are  getting  very  troublesome,  fretting  about  their  loads,  and 
demanding  gunpowder  ;  in  fact,  they  made  quite  a  revolt  this 
afternoon.  Bringing  their  loads  to  me,  they  laid  them  down, 
saying  they  would  not  go  further,  but  would  return  home 
unless  I  gave  them  my  powder.  I  sat  down  beside  the  stuff, 
looked  at  them  awhile,  and  soon  they  began  to  shoulder  their 
sticks.  I  said  it  was  all  right,  and  bade  them  '  Samaea  sintly,' 
i.e.  '  Go  pleasantly.'  This  rather  amused  them  ;  their  scowl- 
ing faces  relaxed  a  bit,  but  they  began  again,  trying  with  their 
threatenings  and  impudence  to  rouse  my  temper.  I  answered 
all  their  talk  ^vith  '  I  hear  you,'  until  they  gradually  subsided. 
You  see  I  am  getting  a  taste  of  some  of  the  difficulties  of 
travelling  in  this  country.  In  the  evening  the  man  who  had 
been  the  most  troublesome,  and  had  led  on  the  others,  seemed 


46     FIRST  EXPERIENCES  WITH  CARRIERS 

somewhat  sorry  for  the  way  he  had  spoken  to  me,  and  began 
saying  what  great  respect  he  had  for  missionaries.  I  shall 
watch  him  closely  in  future.  Another  cause  for  grumbling 
turned  up  in  the  evening.  The  food  supply  was  running  short, 
as  we  had  shot  no  game,  and  I  had  to  serve  out  a  small 
allowance. 

"  Sunday,  August  6th. — I  was  compelled,  for  the  sake  of 
food  for  the  men,  to  move  off  this  morning.  Going  in  front  to 
look  for  game,  I  came  across  a  large  troop  of  zebras,  and  also 
found  an  ostrich's  egg,  which  will  serve  for  my  dinner.  We 
camped  about  eleven  o'clock,  and  I  sent  five  men  out  to  hunt 
the  zebras. 

"  We  are  now  close  to  the  Chobe  River.  I  shall  never  forget 
the  effect  that  the  first  sight  of  that  great  stream  had,  not 
only  upon  myself,  but  also  upon  the  poor  men  with  me.  What 
a  feeling  of  disappointment  came  over  me  when  I  found  that  I 
was  satisfied  with  only  a  few  cups  full,  whereas  I  felt  I  could 
have  drunk  buckets  full.  This  morning,  before  starting,  the 
men  had  a  sort  of  religious  service  over  their  guns.  Laying 
their  firearms  (six  in  all)  down  in  a  row,  they  all  sat  around 
them,  and  one  began  to  sing  a  dirge  and  to  tap  each  gun,  v/hile 
the  rest  were  keeping  time  by  beating  the  palm  of  one  hand 
with  the  fist  of  the  other.  They  then  sprinkled  the  guns  with 
water,  and  finished  up  with  a  long  shout.  This  they  repeated 
twice,  saying  it  was  to  make  their  guns  kill  well. 

"  This  evening  the  men  returned  with  a  young  zebra.  Now, 
at  last,  I  have  found  out  the  reason  why  they  have  gone  on  so 
unwillingly  for  a  day  or  so,  and  are  loth  to  go  do^vn  and  camp 
on  the  Chobe,  as  I  would  wish.  '  Did  not  the  marauding 
Barotse,'  they  say,  '  live  across  the  river  ?  If  they  should 
happen  to  see  our  fires  would  they  not  come  over  and  kill  us 
all  ?  '  They  have  been  hearing  from  the  Masaroa  that  the 
Barotse  are  vowing  destruction  on  the  Basubia  who  fled  to 
the  Mababi,  saying  that  when  the  rains  fall  they  Avill  come 
dowTi  and  kill  them  all.  It  seems  that  the  Barotse  have  been 
\'ictorious  over  the  Bashukulumbe,  and  are  now  scattering  in 
all  directions  the  inhabitants  north  of  the  Zambesi.  The  last 
news  is  that  they  are  among  the  Batoka  in  the  hills,  and  are 
killing  them  off.  Oh,  the  terribleness  of  war  !  When  I  was  in 
Natal,  the  Boer  War  was  threatening  to  break  out  again,  and 
feehng  was  running  high.    I  had  scarcely  arrived  in  the  Trans- 


FIRST  EXPERIENCES  WITH  CARRIERS     47 

vaal  when  war  broke  out  among  the  natives  over  the  border, 
and  I  ran  a  narrow  escape  of  being  commandeered  for  military 
service.  On  arriving  at  Shoshong,  the  first  news  I  heard  was 
that  the  Matabele  were  expected,  and  that  in  all  directions 
the  cattle  of  the  Bamangwato  were  coming  in.  The  morning 
after  my  arrival  there  all  the  men  of  the  town  were  turned 
out  on  parade  to  prepare  for  immediate  action,  but  news  came 
in  in  a  few  days  that  the  Matabele  had  turned.  At  Mababi  I 
heard  of  ravages  and  bloodshed,  quite  near,  by  a  company  of 
the  Matabele.  The  Masaroa  of  a  whole  town,  whom  Tinka 
was  expecting  to  come  and  hunt  for  him,  were  massacred  ; 
and  had  the  Matabele  troop  been  a  Httle  stronger  they  would 
have  come  on  to  the  Mababi.  Now  that  I  am  nearing  the 
Zambesi,  reports  of  war  and  bloodshed  increase  more  and  more. 

^* August  8th. — A  fair  supply  of  zebra  flesh  has  been  brought 
in  by  the  men,  and  all  round  the  camp  to-day  flesh,  cut  in 
long  strips,  is  hung  on  long  poles  to  dry.  A  troop  of  zebras 
passed  close  to  our  camp,  and  my  three  donkeys  seeing  them 
started  after  them  at  full  gallop,  and  soon  joined  them,  when 
the  troop  made  off.  Setobi,  and  the  other  Bechuana,  went  in 
pursuit  of  them.  Hour  after  hour  passed  by  with  no  news  of 
the  donkeys,  and  I  confess  I  felt  very  uncomfortable,  as  the 
men  seemed  ready  to  leave  me  at  a  moment's  notice.  With 
my  donkeys  gone,  and  myself  a  hundred  miles  from  any  in- 
habited part,  what  could  I  do  ?  Greatly  to  my  relief,  just  as 
the  sun  was  setting,  the  donkeys  appeared  with  the  two 
Bechuana.  We  are  surrounded  for  miles  and  miles  with  thick 
woods,  and  it  looked  a  hopeless  task  to  follow  them.  '  Bob,' 
however,  did  not  seem  to  take  so  well  to  his  new  companions 
as  the  other  two  donkeys  did,  and  withdrew  from  them. 
Ramatlodi,  the  Bushman,  made  up  to  him,  and,  wisely  mount- 
ing, whipped  him  up.  '  Bob  '  made  off  at  a  run,  kept  most 
faithfully  to  the  spoor  of  the  other  two  donkeys  and  the 
zebras,  and  after  a  long  run  got  up  with  them.  The  donkeys 
were  by  this  time  fighting  with  the  zebras,  and  kicking  each 
other.  When  Ramatlodi  showed  himself,  the  zebras  scampered 
away,  and  the  donkeys  submitted  to  be  driven  back.  The 
man  had  gone  fully  twelve  miles  after  them. 

""August  9th. — After  drying  about  200  lbs.  of  flesh  I  got  a 
start  this  evening,  and  camped  close  by  the  Chobe,  which  flows 
into  the  Zambesi. 


48     FIRST  EXPERIENCES  WITH  CARRIERS 

''^August  10th. — During  the  night  I  lost  my  faithful  dog 
Judy.  She  was  barking  away  at  my  side,  and  I  looked  up  and 
told  her  to  be  quiet.  In  a  short  time  she  began  barking  again  ; 
then  followed  a  deep  growl  with  a  rush,  and  poor  Judy  squeaked 
her  last.  I  had  scarcely  time  to  look  up  ere  a  tiger  had  cleared 
the  fires,  and  was  off.  The  brute  must  have  been  very  hungry 
to  have  ventured  so  near  for  a  supper.  These  tigers,  properly 
leopards,  are  very  plentiful  and  destructive,  and,  in  fact, 
though  not  so  powerful,  are  more  dangerous  than  lions. 

"  We  had  a  good  day's  journey  along  the  Chobe  to-day  ; 
on  the  whole  the  ground  was  good  for  walking,  but  we  had  to 
wade  through  one  lagoon.  We  just  get  glimpses  of  this  great 
river,  the  reeds  are  so  tall  and  thick.  It  is,  however,  a  refresh- 
ing sight  to  see  such  an  immense  body  of  water  rolling  along. 
The  men  are  fond  of  their  river,  and  have  been  singing  away 
at  their  old  canoe  songs,  which  are  very  musical  and  plaintive. 

''August  llih. — The  river  is  now  running  in  one  broad,  deep 
channel  close  to  the  path.  It  is  quite  a  treat  to  walk  along 
the  thickly  wooded  bank,  clad  with  all  sorts  of  tropical  creepers 
and  flowers.  The  trees  are  full  of  monkeys,  baboons,  and 
beautiful  birds.  Every  now  and  then  a  troop  of  antelopes 
scamper  past,  and  on  the  river  are  all  kinds  of  rare  and  splendid 
water-fowl.  To-day  I  saw  an  immense  hippopotamus  rolling 
about  in  the  water.  Everything  is  the  perfection  of  beauty 
and  symmetry  ;  and  the  fearful,  suspicious  way  in  which  my 
men  creep  along  declares  that  '  only  man  is  vile.'  They  are 
in  mortal  dread  of  their  lives.  We  sighted  a  town  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  and  this  disturbed  them  greatly.  At  first 
they  refused  to  sleep  at  the  place  I  had  chosen  for  the  night, 
and  wanted  to  hide  in  the  forest.  They  declared  that  the 
Barotse  would  cross  during  the  night  and  kill  them  all.  Talk 
as  I  will  I  cannot  lessen  their  fears.  They  refuse  to  go  along 
the  river  any  further,  and  say  that  unless  I  turn  trom  the 
river  and  make  for  Leshuma  across  the  sand-belt  they  will 
forthwith  desert.  I  refused  at  first,  but  when  I  saw  that  they 
really  meant  it  I  gave  in. 

''August  12th. — After  a  restless  night  on  the  part  of  the  men 
we  started  early  this  morning  along  the  river  for  one  short 
march.  It  was  most  impressive,  yet  I  must  say  I  could  not  help 
laughing  to  see  how  the  men  stole  along  through  the  high  grass, 
glancing  every  now  and  then  across  the  river,  fearing  that  they 


o  pa-o 

_  "  o 

O  rt  o 

<  g^ 


FIRST  EXPERIENCES  WITH  CARRIERS     49 

might  be  seen  by  their  dreaded  enemies.  At  last  we  turned  from 
the  river  inland,  or,  speaking  more  correctly,  west  by  one 
point  north.  The  sand  was  very  heavy,  and  reflected  the  heat 
of  the  sun  painfully.  We  pushed  on  hard,  hoping  to  reach  a 
Masaroa  well  in  the  evening.  We  had  a  most  tiresome  walk, 
and  shortly  after  sunset  arrived  at  a  well,  very  deep,  but  with 
nothing  in  it. 

"  Sunday,  Aiigust  13th. — I  sent  three  men  to  dig  the  well 
deeper,  hoping  to  strike  water,  so  that  we  might  rest  to-day, 
but  it  was  in  vain,  so  off  we  started.  The  sun  was  very  hot, 
yet  we  could  not  wait,  and  walked  on  without  resting  to  take 
breath  more  than  five  or  ten  minutes  at  a  time.  At  last  we 
reached  a  well  with  some  water  in  it,  which,  after  a  little  digging, 
proved  sufficient  for  the  night.  I  feel  as  if  I  were  lying  on  raw 
flesh  because  my  back  is  so  sunburnt. 

^^ August  I4:th. — About  midday,  as  we  reached  a  hill-top,  we 
came  in  sight  of  Leshuma  with  the  Zambesi  in  the  distance.  I 
sat  down  to  rest  a  bit,  and  wondered  at  the  grace  and  tender- 
ness of  my  God  who  had  brought  me  thus  far.  I  sang  the 
hymn,  '  Simply  Trusting,'  and  it  filled  my  soul — not  that  my 
trust  has  ever  been  so  real  as  the  words  of  the  hymn  express,  but 
I  felt  it  was  no  vain  thing  to  trust  the  Lord,  even  though  my 
measure  had  been  very  small.  Above  all,  there  is  a  fullness  of 
joy  in  proving  the  Word  of  God,  in  finding  that  the  same 
wondrous  grace  of  God  which  gave  us  promises  is  able  to 
fulfil  and  does  fulfil  them  to  us.  At  length,  after  a  long  two 
months'  journey  from  Shoshong  I  have  reached  the  Zambesi 
River  without  a  blister  on  my  feet,  and,  but  for  my  sorely 
burnt  skin,  in  perfect  health.  The  sun  has  in  no  way  affected 
my  head. 

''August  15th. — The  Basubia  would  not  go  down  to  Leshuma 
until  Ramatlodi  and  I  went  on  to  see  if  the  way  were  clear. 
I  found  Leshuma,  which  had  been  a  trading  station,  nearly 
deserted  ;  only  a  few  Masaroa  women  and  children  were  there. 
I  sent  to  let  the  Basubia  know  that  the  way  was  certainly 
clear  enough,  and  they  stole  down,  deposited  their  bundles, 
and  forthwith  demanded  their  pay.  They  wanted  to  return  at 
once,  and  refused  to  go  to  Panda-ma-tenka.  Ramatlodi  also 
wished  to  go  back,  so  that  I  was  left  with  three  donkeys, 
Setobi  and  a  boy,  to  go  on  to  Panda-ma-tenka.  No  natives 
were  living  near  ;   they  had  all  fled  before  a  scouring  band  of 


50     FIRST  EXPERIENCES  WITH  CARRIERS 

Matabele.  After  a  deal  of  talking  I  paid  off  the  men,  giving 
each  of  them  fully  ten  charges  of  powder,  caps,  half  a  bar  of 
lead,  and  half  a  yard  of  cloth,  which  is  big  pay.  How  I  was  ever 
to  reach  Panda-ma-tenka  I  did  not  know.  After  paying  all  off, 
I  gathered  them  together,  and,  mustering  all  my  Sechuana, 
gave  them  a  long  address,  speaking  for  fully  an  hour.  I 
finished  by  showing  them  how  cruel  they  were  in  forsaking  me 
wdth  little  food  by  me,  and  no  means  of  getting  to  Panda-ma- 
tenka.  I  should  have  to  leave  all  my  goods  to  be  stolen  by  the 
Masaroa,  or  I  should  have  to  burn  them  ;  how  would  they 
ansAver  to  Khama  when  called  upon  to  account  for  their  actions, 
and  how  would  they  answer  to  God  for  leaving  His  servant  to 
perish  in  the  desert  ?  Ramatlodi  was  the  first  to  give  in, 
though  he  was  pre\iously  bent  on  returning.  He,  no  doubt, 
felt  the  force  of  my  remarks  in  speaking  of  Khama,  and  what 
he  would  think  of  his  actions.  He  said  he  would  not  leave  me 
but  would  go  to  Panda-ma-tenka.  Then  three  Basubia  said 
they  would  not  leave,  and  two  Masaroa,  who  before  refused 
my  proffered  hire,  offered  their  services  ;  so  that  with  Setobi 
I  have  my  full  complement  of  carriers.  I  will  drive  the  donkeys 
myself,  so  that  we  shall  get  along  famously.  My  purpose  is  to 
take  a  straight  hne  from  here  to  Panda-ma-tenka.  The  tempta- 
tion is  certainly  strong  to  go  round  by  the  Victoria  Falls  ; 
but  as  neither  the  time  nor  the  money  I  have  belongs  to  me, 
I  do  not  feel  justified  in  adding  three  or  four  days'  journey 
for  mere  sightseeing. 

"  This  evening,  since  the  Basubia  who  refused  to  go  further 
have  departed,  a  much  happier  feeling  seems  to  be  among  my 
men.  I  have  served  out  as  liberal  a  supply  of  food  to  them 
as  I  can,  and  they  are  talking  of  how  well  they  will  get  along. 
We  have  three  days'  desert  between  this  and  Panda-ma-tenka, 
but  the  men  say  they  are  willing  to  travel  day  and  night  if  I 
hke. 

^'August  IQth. — Last  night  we  made  a  good  long  journey, 
and  towards  morning  slept  a  few  hours.  The  road,  though 
through  thick  bush  and  sand,  is  easily  followed.  I  was  up  and 
off  before  the  sun  rose,  and  towards  midday  we  lay  dovra  in 
the  shade  a  short  time.  A  small  abscess  has  formed  under  my 
toe,  causing  much  pain  ;  but  with  a  long  stick  as  a  crutch,  I 
have  managed  to  keep  up  with  the  rest.  The  night  was  dark, 
and  the  road  bad,  but  we  kept  on,  expecting  at  carry  fresh 


FIRST  EXPERIENCES  WITH  CARRIERS     51 

start  to  reach  the  Gezumba  pan  before  halting.  At  last  we 
gave  in,  and  lay  down  beside  some  thick  bush  for  shelter, 
knowing  we  were  not  far  from  water. 

''August  17th. — My  toe  being  very  painful,  I  started  before 
the  others  and  hobbled  along.  A  half-hour's  walk  brought  us 
to  the  Gezumba  pan,  which  is  within  three  hours'  walk  of 
Panda-ma-tenka.  But  for  my  toe  I  should  go  on,  but  shall 
rest  to-day. 

"  This  is  the  quickest  march  I  have  yet  had,  doing  60  miles 
in  one  day  and  two  nights.  The  distance  was  considered  by 
the  Bushmen,  from  whom  I  got  directions  as  to  the  road,  to  be  a 
three  days'  journey.  I  hope  the  donkeys  feel  grateful.  I 
certainly  felt  anything  but  fresh  to-day  ;  the  painful  shuffling 
on  the  outer  edge  of  my  foot  over  the  last  20  miles  has  strained 
all  the  muscles  of  my  body.  I  lanced  the  toe  to-day,  and  shall 
get  along  nicely  to-morrow. 

^'August  18th. — Felt  alright  this  morning,  and  was  able  to 
walk  with  comparative  comfort ;  so  I  set  off  before  the  rest, 
and  reached  Panda-ma-tenka  about  midday.  It  is  a  little 
clump  of  huts  on  the  top  of  slightly  rising  ground,  surrounded 
by  low  marsh.  The  Jesuits  have  built  a  comfortable-looking 
house  and  chapel.  The  rest  of  the  people  live  in  huts,  among 
whom  are  Mr.  Blocklcy,  a  trader,  also  a  Dutchman,  and  the 
wives  and  families  of  three  or  four  Hottentot  hunters,  who  at 
present  are  out  hunting.  Mr.  Blockley  received  me  very 
kindly,  and  gave  me  a  grass  hut  to  live  in  as  long  as  I  may 
remain  here.  In  a  short  time  my  men  and  donkeys  arrived, 
and  I  settled  with  them  as  liberally  as  I  could.  I  also  sold  my 
donkeys,  and  packed  all  my  belongings  in  loads  suitable  for 
the  shoulders  and  sticks  of  the  carriers  I  should  engage  here. 
The  natives  in  this  district  divide  the  load  they  carry  into 
two  equal  parts,  fastening  them  on  to  the  two  ends  of  a  stick 
in  Chinese  fashion." 


CHAPTER  V 


SPYING   OUT   THE    LAND 


ARNOT  wrote  from  Panda-ma -tenka  on  August  18th, 
1882  :  "  The  missionary,  M.  Coillard,  from  Basuto- 
land,  with  his  heroic  wife,  had  already  visited  the 
Zambesi,  and  had  sent  messengers  up  to  the  Barotse  Valley, 
asking  permission  from  Liwanika  to  be  allowed  to  return  with 
a  party  and  begin  work  in  his  country.  Liwanika  sent  him  a 
warm  invitation.  Coillard  then  left  for  South  Africa  and 
Europe  in  order  to  raise  the  interest  of  his  friends  and  sup- 
porters in  this  great  Upper  Zambesi  field.  On  M.  Coillard's 
return  from  Europe  to  South  Africa  the  Gun  (Basuto)  War 
broke  out,  so  that  he  was  unable  to  proceed  at  once  to  the 
Zambesi  ;  but,  hearing  that  I  was  passing  through  Natal  on 
my  way  to  the  interior,  he  wrote  asking  me  to  assure  Lewanika, 
if  I  should  succeed  in  reaching  his  country,  that  he  had  not 
forgotten  his  promise  and  hoped  soon  to  leave  Basutoland  for 
the  Barotse.  It  was  my  ambition  to  cross  the  Zambesi  and 
reach  the  highlands  beyond,  without  going  up  the  river  to  the 
Barotse  capital,  but  Mr.  Blockley  assured  me  that  this  was 
impossible,  that  the  only  road  open  to  anyone  crossing  the 
Zambesi  was  that  which  led  to  the  capital.  So  adding  this 
report  to  M.  Coillard's  request  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
He  Whom  I  sought  to  serve  was  directing  me  to  go  to  the 
Barotse. 

"  I  accompanied  Mr.  Blockley  in  a  waggon  journey  he  was 
about  to  make  to  the  junction  of  the  Zambesi  and  the  Chobe 
Rivers,  as  he  was  going  there  to  buy  corn  from  the  natives  living 
on  the  north  bank.  It  was  pleasant  to  be  in  an  ox  waggon 
again." 

"  August  25th. — Off  as  early  as  possible  for  the  Zambesi. 
The  path  lay  through  a  thickly  wooded  tropical  valley,  full 
of  rich  herbage.  We  reached  the  river  about  midday,  but  as  the 
wind  was  very  strong  and  the  water  rough,  the  old  man  in 

62 


SPYING   OUT   THE   LAND  53 

charge  of  the  feny  would  not  answer  our  call  for  some  time  ; 
so  I  was  able  to  look  round  and  take  a  good  view  of  the  river. 
We  rested  at  the  point  where  the  waters  of  the  Chobe  and  the 
Zambesi  meet.  The  Zambesi  at  that  point  is  as  broad  as  the 
Clyde  at  Dumbarton,  and  is  very  deep  from  bank  to  bank  ;  the 
Chobe  is  a  little  narrower.  Late  in  the  afternoon  the  old  man 
started  in  his  canoe,  but  instead  of  coming  over  to  us  he  went 
a  long  way  up  the  river  and  crossed  to  the  island  of  Inparairie. 
However,  he  came  down  after  a  time  and  landed  where  we 
were.  After  talking  and  waiting  he  agreed  to  ferry  us  over  for 
so  much.  Three  trips  took  us  and  our  bundles  across  in  his 
cranky  canoe.  Everything  got  wet,  and  I  had  to  sit  down  in 
water.  The  edge  of  the  canoe — -the  trunk  of  a  tree  shaped  a 
bit  and  hollowed  out — ^was  scarcely  a  handbreadth  from  the 
water,  and  all  the  little  waves  came  right  in,  so  that  Setobi  had 
a  hard  half -hour's  work  in  baling  out  the  water. 

"  The  boatman  understood  that  I  was  a  servant  of  Mr. 
Blockley's,  and  so  took  me  on  board  his  craft  without  any 
questions.  We  had  not  got  far,  however,  when  Mr.  Blockley's 
boy,  who  was  rowing  in  front,  told  him  I  was  a  Marute,  i.e.  a 
teacher.  Much  alarmed  at  this,  the  old  man  wanted  to  take 
me  back  again.  The  boy  seemed  to  understand  the  difficulty, 
for  he  put  matters  right  by  assuring  him  that  I  was  not  one  of 
the  Panda-ma-tenka  Marutes  (the  Jesuits  who  are  staying 
there),  but  quite  different.  After  a  good  deal  of  explanation 
on  the  boy's  part,  the  boatman  pushed  on  and  took  me  across. 
Mr.  Blockley  came  in  the  next  boatload,  and  was  able  to 
pacify  the  old  man.  It  seems  that  he  has  orders  not  to  allow 
the  Jesuits  to  cross  the  river  until  the  chief  sends  down  word. 
After  settling  with  the  boatman,  we  set  off  for  the  next  nearest 
town,  intending  to  sleep  there. 

"  The  north  bank  of  the  river  rises  steep  from  the  water's 
edge,  so  our  way  lay  uphill.  As  the  sun  was  setting  I  had  a 
grand  view  of  the  river,  and  of  miles  upon  miles  of  country 
stretching  far  south,  beautifully  undulating  and  thickly 
wooded.  We  arrived  at  a  little  Batoka  town  in  the  evening, 
and  were  well  received.  The  people  showed  us  into  a  reed 
yard,  with  a  hut  in  the  centre  for  our  use,  but  we  preferred, 
as  the  night  was  fine,  to  sleep  on  the  open  ground.  They  gave 
us  a  goat  to  kill,  and  food  for  the  men,  at  the  same  time  bringing 
a  supply  of  firewood  and  making  a  grass  hut.    The  reception 


54  SPYING   OUT   THE   LAND 

these  Batoka  gave  us  was  so  simple  and  kindly  that  they 
quite  won  my  heart.  I  felt  I  had  not  thought  of  them  in  vain, 
and,  without  going  another  step,  would  willingly  have  settled 
amongst  them  ;  but  they  are  a  conquered  people,  and  there- 
fore I  must  see  the  king  of  the  country  ere  I  can  settle  in  it. 

"  August  26th. — After  Mr.  Blockley  had  bought  a  little  corn 
that  was  brought  here,  we  set  off  for  the  town  of  Mogumba, 
the  chief  of  this  part  of  the  river.  We  found  it  partly  deserted 
through  failure  of  crops,  all  the  men  being  out  hunting,  and 
Mogumba  at  Shesheke.  His  chief  wife,  however,  entertained 
us  to  the  best  of  her  ability. 

"  We  left  Mogumba  in  the  afternoon,  and  after  walking  ten 
or  twelve  miles,  lay  down  under  some  trees  growing  by  a  clear 
stream  of  water,  trusting  to  big  fires  to  keep  the  lions  off  us. 
Tired  out,  however,  with  the  long  walk  through  grass  and 
bush,  we  all  fell  asleep  and  the  fires  went  out.  But  God  guarded 
His  reckless,  would-be  servant.  For  it  so  happened  that  we 
had  lain  down  beside  a  game  pit,  and  towards  morning  my  men 
ran  out  and  speared  a  huge  lion  that  had  fallen  into  it.  There 
was  no  doubt  but  that  I  and  my  men  had  taken  the  place  of 
the  bait  that  allured  this  monster  to  his  destruction. 

"  Sunday,  August  27th. — Most  of  the  boys  who  had  offered 
their  services  ran  off  early  this  morning,  so  I  remained  at 
Mbova  until  evening,  and  went  a  short  distance  with  two  men 
who  were  willing  to  go  with  me.  I  might  as  well  have  remained 
until  Monday,  but  was  anxious  to  get  out  of  Mbova  as  quickly 
as  possible,  hoping  to  get  a  good  night's  sleep.  That  town 
lies  in  the  middle  of  an  immense  marsh,  and  at  night  it  swarms 
with  mosquitoes  ;  it  is  also  a  regular  malaria  swamp  all  the 
year  round.  I  slept  at  night  by  the  side  of  a  small  river  in  the 
middle  of  a  thick  wood. 

"  August  28th. — After  some  trouble  I  started  this  morning, 
and  got  on  well  for  a  time.  It  is  very  pleasant  sailing  along 
this  immense  river.  After  a  few  hours,  however,  the  boatmen 
landed  me  on  the  bank,  and  quietly  set  to  work  landing  my  stuff. 
I  could  not  believe  Shesheke  was  so  near,  but  they  assured  me 
it  was  near  to  some  trees  close  by,  and  that  they  landed  mc 
to  avoid  a  long  bend  in  the  river  ;  so  I  let  them  go,  and  found 
out  their  deceit,  to  my  sorrow,  afterwards.  The  two  boys  I 
had  with  me  as  carriers  were  from  the  same  town  as  the  boat- 
men, and  were  privy  to  the  plan.    After  a  long  six  hours'  walk, 


SPYING   OUT   THE   LAND  55 

mostly  through  a  labyrinth  of  broken  down  reeds,  with  mud 
and  slush  underneath,  I  arrived  at  Shesheke,  and  was  glad  to 
find  Mr.  Westbeech  there.  (Mr.  Westbeech  was  the  first 
South  African  trader  to  visit  the  Zambesi  Valley.)  Welcoming 
me  kindly  he  said  that  he  had  been  detained  for  several 
weeks,  much  against  his  will,  but  was  now  expecting  to  be  off 
at  once. 

"  Ha\dng  been  introduced  to  the  headmen  of  the  town,  I 
told  them  my  errand,  and  they  listened  attentively.  Their 
answer  was  that  I  was  so  far  welcome,  and  that  I  had  perfect 
liberty  to  go  on  to  the  king,  but  that  the  king's  headmen  were 
tired  of  teachers  coming  to  the  country  and  running  away 
again.  Their  spokesmen  referred  to  M.  Coillard's  \'isit,  and 
said  he  promised  to  return,  but  had  not  come.  They  heard  last 
year  that  he  was  coming,  and  they  hear  again  that  he  is  coming 
now,  but  they  do  not  see  him.  They  then  spoke  of  the  Jesuits, 
and  how  they  had  deceived  them.  As  to  my  coming  amongst 
them,  they  said  they  did  not  know  what  I  meant  to  do,  whether 
I  would  just  see  the  chief  and  run  away  again,  or  remain. 

"  This  tribe,  or  rather  these  tribes,  are  governed  by  the  king 
and  his  headmen,  who  have  a  voice  in  most  affairs.  They 
seemed  determined  not  to  be  cheated  any  more.  I  tried  to 
assure  them  that  my  intentions  were  sincere  in  coming  amongst 
them,  and  that  I  was  now  willing,  if  I  got  permission,  to 
remain  with  them.  That  pleased  them  better  ;  in  fact  the 
whole  tribe  have  been  waiting  for  some  teacher,  and  were 
compelled  to  think  about  receiving  the  Jesuits,  although  they 
did  not  like  them.  Boats  are  expected  from  the  king  every  day 
to  take  them  up. 

"  The  headmen  had  a  long  talk  over  matters,  and  had 
Setobi  with  them  to  question  him  all  about  me.  They  told 
me  in  the  afternoon  that,  as  headmen  of  Shesheke,  they  had 
decided  to  receive  me  as  a  teacher  into  their  covuitry,  on  the 
understanding  that  I  would  not  run  away  and  leave  them. 

"  After  a  good  deal  of  talking,  it  was  arranged  that  Mr. 
Westbeech  should  go  on  to  the  king  and  tell  him  of  my  desire, 
and  get  him  to  send  boats  down  to  Shesheke  ;  and  that  I 
should  first  return  with  a  boat,  which  the  headmen  would  place 
at  my  disposal,  to  Panda-ma-tenka,  and  fetch  the  things  I 
had  left,  and  a  few  supphes  to  last  me  some  months  among  the 
Barotse. 


56  SPYING   OUT  THE   LAND 

"  The  week  I  was  at  Shesheke  I  had  several  companies  in 
my  Utile  reed  yard  listening  ;  and  one  evening  I  overheard 
one  man — a  young  headman,  who  had  attended  regularly — 
going  over  what  he  had  heard.  '  The  good  Shepherd  ;  He  gave 
His  life  for  the  sheep '  (followed  by  exclamations) ;  then, 
'  Eo  Mora  oa  Modimo  '  ('He  is  the  Son  of  God') — ^this  he 
repeated — '  Mora  oa  Modimo  '  ('  Son  of  God  !  Son  of  God  ! ' ) — 
and  he  passed  on.  Not  liking  to  disturb  his  thoughts  I  left  him 
alone,  thanking  God  in  the  depths  of  my  soul  that  these 
words  had  for  the  time  got  a  place  in  his  mind  and  made  him 
think.  He  is  a  bright,  thoughtful,  young  man,  24  or  25  years 
of  age. 

"  Sunday,  September  3rd,  1882. — A  letter  arrived  to-day 
from  the  Jesuits  who  had  come  down  to  the  Leshuma  ferry, 
asking  for  boats  to  take  them  to  Shesheke.  The  headmen  sent 
word  that  they  must  wait  until  a  reply  came  from  the  king  in 
answer  to  a  message  they  had  sent  by  Mr.  Westbeech.  I  have 
spent  a  pleasant  week  here,  and  have  got  on  well  with  the 
people.  Shesheke  is  a  town  of  slaves,  three-fourths  of  the 
population  being  the  absolute  property  of  the  other  fourth. 
The  people  like  to  come  and  hear  me  read  out  of  the  Sechuana 
Testament,  and  they  ask  all  sorts  of  childish  questions.  Their- 
ignorance,  to  a  man,  is  absolute,  and  their  depravity  complete. 
Human  sacrifices,  burning  of  witches,  cutting  the  flesh,  etc., 
are  the  outcome  of  a  religion  of  dark  superstition. 

"  Sept.  5th. — Left  Shesheke  in  a  boat  for  Mbova.  Slept  the 
first  night  on  a  reed  island,  the  second  on  a  mud-bank,  as  the 
lions  were  too  troublesome  for  us  to  sleep  on  the  mainland. 

"  Banks  of  Zambesi,  Sept.  Gth. — As  my  big  diary  letter  is  not 
altogether  the  quite  homely  letter  of  a  fond  son  to  his  mother, 
but  is  more  a  record  of  facts,  I  write  this  in  addition.  I  am 
now  down  on  my  way  from  Shesheke  by  boat  to  Leshuma,  and 
will  walk  from  there  to  Panda-ma-tenka,  and  have  stopped 
to-day  to  give  my  men  a  feed.  There  is  quite  a  famine  all 
along  the  river  just  noAV,  so  I  halted  this  morning  and  shot 
a  gnu  close  to  the  river,  Avhich  means  a  lot  of  fresh  meat.  I 
have  been  compelled  against  my  inclination  to  take  the  shoot- 
ing into  my  own  hands  as  Setobi  was  wasting  all  my  ammuni- 
tion and  bringing  little  in.  And  travelling  at  this  famine- 
time  is  out  of  the  question  without  a  good  deal  of  game  meat. 
Travelling  on  the  river  is  very  pleasant  work  indeed.    It  is  a 


SPYING   OUT  THE  LAND  37 

lovely  river.  The  size  of  it  would  cause  one  to  expect  nothing 
in  the  way  of  soft  beauty,  but  some  of  the  inland  scenes,  and 
beautifully  banked  spreading  sheets  of  water,  surpass  descrip- 
tion. The  boat  I  am  travelling  in  is  the  usual  hollow  tree,  but 
my  men  make  me  very  comfortable  so  that  I  have  nothing 
to  do  but  to  lie  back  with  an  umbrella  over  me  and  read,  or 
enjoy  the  beautiful  river  scenery.  Those  boatmen  give  me  no 
trouble  whatever  as  Ratua  sent  a  man  in  charge  with  them. 

"  I  have  often  written  to  you  in  former  letters  about  the 
Jesuits.  You  know  how  much  I  was  exercised  about  them, 
and  their  great  exertions  to  close  the  whole  country  up  against 
the  messengers  of  the  Gospel.  Another  week  or  two  and  they 
would  have  succeeded.  Their  presents  were  prepared.  Every- 
thing was  ready  for  making  what  would  I  fear  have  proved 
to  be  a  too  successful  overture.  They  only  waited  for  a  supply 
of  corn.  Now,  how  was  it  ?  Was  it  mere  chance  work  that  I 
arrived  at  Panda-ma-tenka  at  this  very  time,  and  that  two 
days  after  my  arrival  Bleckley,  much  against  his  will,  was 
compelled  to  cross  the  river  and  come  up  some  distance  in 
search  of  corn,  taking  me  with  him  ?  How  was  it  that  West- 
beech  was  detained  at  Shesheke  25  days  waiting  for  a  boat 
(the  only  man  in  the  country  who  could  interpret  for  me),  and 
that  when  the  talking  was  finished  his  boat  arrived  ?  It  had 
only  been  a  few  miles  away  all  the  time  in  some  reeds.  As 
Mr.  Westbeech  said,  my  coming  now  had  preserved  all  the 
Barotse  kingdom,  and  in  fact  nearly  all  the  country  north  of 
the  Zambesi,  and  south  of  the  Kafue  River,  for  Protestant 
missionaries.  It  is,  however,  too  soon  to  say  so  yet,  but  if  such 
should  prove  to  be  the  case,  I  am  sure  you  will  rejoice  with  me. 
Not  that  I  have  done  anytliing,  for  indeed  I  have  done  nothing 
but  simply  move  on,  but  in  the  might  and  power  and  wisdom 
of  our  God. 

"  SejJt.  Sth. — My  men  tried  to  frighten  me  into  dealing  out 
to  them  some  extra  rations.  Coming  up  to  a  small  reed- 
covered  island,  they  all  landed,  professing  to  be  tired  ;  and  as 
it  is  not  safe  to  sit  in  their  canoes  when  they  stop — the  croco- 
diles having  a  trick  of  coming  alongside  slyly  and  whisking  one 
into  the  water  with  their  tails — I  got  out  with  the  men,  spread 
my  mat,  lay  down,  and  read  a  book  that  had  interested  me. 
My  men  stole  back  to  the  boat  and  suddenly  pushed  out  to 
mid-streara  and  feigned  to  be  paddling  off,  saying  they  would 


58  SPYING   OUT   THE   LAND 

not  return  unless  I  promised  them  more  pay.  I  lay  perfectly 
still,  however,  never  even  looking  at  them  or  letting  them 
know  that  I  heard.  The  book,  I  remember,  was  very  interest- 
ing. I  had  got  it  from  Mr.  Westbeech,  and  it  contained  the 
lives  of  Scottish  Covenanters.  After  having  pulled  down- 
stream for  some  miles,  going  out  of  my  sight,  they  returned  in 
about  an  hour's  time  and  entreated  me  to  enter  the  boat. 
I  professed  to  be  annoyed  at  their  importunity,  shut  my  book, 
and  got  in  ;  and  off  we  went,  the  men  rowing  as  they  had  not 
done  since  we  started,  in  order  to  make  up  for  lost  time. 

"  God  has  not  opened  up  my  way  so  far,  to  leave  me  now  ; 
this  I  know.  He  does  not  so  work.  '  The  kingdom  of  God  is 
not  meat  and  drink,  but  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost ' — not  earthly  comforts,  but  heavenly  and  spiritual 
things.  My  greedy  flesh  shrinks  from  banishment  for  '  a  little 
while '  from  kith  and  kin,  but  there  are  '  better  things  '  re- 
maining to  me.  Let  my  one  desire  in  this  life  be  to  possess  to 
the  full  those  '  better  things  '  at  whatever  cost  to  the  lesser. 
'  Ye  shall  burn  no  leaven,  nor  any  honey,  in  any  offering  of  the 
Lord  made  by  fire  '  (Lev.  ii.  11).  It  is  ours  then  to  lay  aside 
the  honey  of  this  life,  and  let  Him  Who  filleth  all  things  fill  us 
with  Himself. 

"  I  used  to  like  a  quiet  walk  through  the  woods,  and  enjoyed 
the  solitude,  but  I  cannot  do  so  here  ;  the  lions  are  too  numer- 
ous and  very  dangerous.  During  this  week  I  have  heard  of 
two  persons  being  killed  by  lions  close  by.  The  Lord,  however, 
has  wonderfully  preserved  me  from  wild  animals,  though  they 
have  been  very  near  to  me  at  times. 

"  I  am  now  in  the  hands  of  the  raw  Zambesi  native,  the 
noisy,  drum  beating,  quarrelsome  forest  and  river  negro  ;  so 
different  from  the  quiet  and  stealthy  Bushman,  or  the  more 
thoughtful  Bechuana,  whose  one  business  it  is  to  mind  sheep 
and  cattle.  Although  these  river  men  have  a  bad  character, 
and  are  fond  of  blackmailing  and  plundering,  5^et  again  and 
again  one  or  other  brought  me  milk,  meal,  or  some  such  delicacy 
from  a  distant  village  when  they  saw  that  I  could  hardly  eat 
the  boiled  corn,  dried  elephant's  flesh  and  putrid  meat  stolen 
from  the  crocodiles'  larders,  which  was  our  usual  fare. 

"  September  12th. — I  reached  Panda-ma-tenka  again  yester- 
day, after  a  long,  dry  walk  of  85  miles,  mostly  through  heavy 
sand,  from  the  junction  of  the  Chobe  and  Zambesi,  which  took 


SPYING   OUT   THE   LAND  59 

us  two  days  and  a  half,  and  not  a  drop  of  water  did  we  find 
for  the  last  70  miles.  The  last  night  and  day  I  suffered  a 
good  deal,  but  thank  God  for  the  strength  given  to  take  me 
through. 

"  The  heat  just  now  is  very  great,  and  will  be  until  the 
rains  fall.  I  fain  hoped  to  get  a  week's  rest  here,  but  the 
carriers  who  came  with  me  from  Shesheke  refuse  to  stay  an 
hour  longer  than  to-morrow  afternoon.  They  are  in  terror 
of  their  lives,  lest  the  Matabele  should  come  and  kill  them  ; 
so  I  have  been  working  night  and  day  making  up  bundles  of 
cloth,  beads,  food,  etc.,  and  start  off  to-morrow  post  haste. 
To  a  casual  observer,  my  hastening  so  to  get  away  would  seem 
like  impatience  ;  but  I  cannot  get  other  carriers,  and  must 
go.  Were  I  to  delay  too  long,  they  would  simply  take  up  their 
weapons  and  march  off  without  even  giving  me  warning.  The 
last  six  weeks  of  almost  constant  travelling  on  foot,  through 
a  rough-and-ready  country,  has  reduced  me  to  a  bit  of  bone 
and  muscle — a  sort  of  walking  machine.  Yet  I  enjoy  the 
greatest  natural  blessing — perfect  health.  I  am  writing  this 
when  I  ought  to  be  sleeping,  but  hope  to  snatch  time  on  the 
way  down  to  the  river  to  write  more. 

"  Quite  a  famine  is  raging  ;  all  over  the  country  people  are 
dying  of  starvation.  It  has  often  been  hard  to  get  food,  and 
I  have  lived  mostly  on  the  flesh  of  game  dried  in  the  sun. 

"  September  lUh. — Started  again  for  Shesheke,  feeling  a 
little  unwell ;  as  we  went  on  matters  did  not  improve,  and 
my  men  grew  very  troublesome.  For  most  of  the  road,  as  I 
have  said,  there  is  no  water,  and  my  carriers  seized  all  the 
water  we  had  and  demanded  payment  of  it  from  me.  Setobi 
was  getting  sick.  At  last,  on  the  second  day,  after  having  gone 
about  40  miles  through  the  desert,  I  had  to  lie  down,  and  very 
soon  became  unconscious.  I  was  by  this  time  in  a  high  fever. 
The  men  went  on  and  left  me  and  Setobi,  who  was  as  helpless 
as  myself.  Fortunately  a  little  boy  had  remained  behind  with 
me,  so  I  sent  him,  young  as  he  was,  through  30  miles  of  danger- 
ous country  to  tell  Mr.  Blockley.  He  was  a  brave  little  chap, 
and  night  for  him  had  no  terrors.  For  two  nights  and  a  day 
I  tossed  about,  suffering  agonies  from  thirst  and  the  blazing 
sun.  Vultures  hovered  overhead  by  day,  and  a  gazelle  looked 
at  me  pitifully,  and  at  night  the  hyena  whooped  at  a  distance. 
On  the  third  day  I  heard  the  crack  of  Blockley's  whip  a  long 


60.  SPYING  OUT   THE  LAND 

way  off,  and  knew  that  ni}'  messenger  had  not  failed  me  and 
that  help  had  come." 

Writing  from  Shesheke  at  the  end  of  October  Arnot  said  : 
"  For  five  weeks  I  lay  at  Panda-ma-tenka  ;  then,  hiring 
Blockley's  Scotch  cart,  I  trekked  to  the  Zambesi  ferry.  My 
men,  I  was  told,  had  gone  on  to  Shesheke,  so  I  crossed  the 
river  hoping  to  overtake  them  on  foot.  But  the  fever  had  left 
me  so  weak  that  I  could  not  follow  the  path,  but  wandered  off 
it,  and  was  unable  to  call  back  my  guide.  At  last  night  came 
on.  The  path  lay  over  a  sharp  hill  covered  with  large  boulders, 
in  the  midst  of  which  I  completely  lost  my  way,  wandeied 
about  from  right  to  left,  then  lay  down  between  two  boulders, 
where  I  found  myself  fairly  comfortable,  as  the  stones  were 
still  radiating  heat.  I  had  not  lain  long  when  I  heard  a  footstep 
in  the  distance.  On  looking  up,  and  watching  in  the  direction 
from  which  the  sound  came,  I  saw  the  figure  of  a  man,  with 
a  gun  over  his  shoulder,  walking  along  slowly  in  the  direction 
I  had  come  from.  I  called,  and  he  at  once  replied  and  came  over 
to  me,  when  I  found  that  he  was  one  of  the  Bushmen  I  had 
hired  at  Leshuma,  and  that  he  was  out  in  search  of  me.  With 
his  help  I  was  able  to  reach  Mbova  shortly  before  midnight. 
The  natives  there  provided  me  with  a  hut  to  sleep  in,  and^ 
brought  food  ;  but  it  was  fully  ten  days  ere  I  recovered  the 
use  of  my  limbs. 

"  Upon  arriving  at  Shesheke  I  lay  so  still  that  my  men 
thought  I  was  dead.  They  drew  my  blanket  over  my  head, 
and  went  off  to  arrange  with  Ratua,  the  chief,  as  to  where  to 
bury  me.  He  pointed  out  a  clump  of  trees  and  told  them  to 
dig  my  grave  there.  But  I  knew  I  was  recovering,  and  with 
a  plentiful  supply  of  fresh  milk  I  soon  picked  up,  and  was 
able  to  proceed  with  the  canoes  that  Liwanika  had  sent  for 
me. 

"  It  is  now  seven  months  since  I  got  news  of  any  kind  from 
the  old  country,  and  close  on  twelve  months  since  I  saw  any 
periodical.  I  am  quite  shut  in  here  ;  and,  like  Noah,  have  but 
the  one  window.  The  weakness  resulting  from  the  fever  is 
lingering  and  depressing  ;  but  I  trust  soon  to  get  over  it. 
Excuse  my  shaky  writing. 

"  I  shall  be  the  first  Scotchman,  and  the  second  British 
subject,  who  has  gone  beyond  Shesheke  since  Livingstone's 
visit ;   the  other  is  Mr.  Westbeech. 


SPYING   OUT   THE   LAND  61 

"  This  is  a  copy  of  the  letter  I  received  at  Shesheke  from 
Mr.  Westbeech  : 

"  '  Lealui,  5th  October,  1882. 

"  '  Dear  Sir, — I  have  got  permission  from  the  chief  for  you 
to  come  on  here,  and  this  without  much  trouble.  He  sends  you 
two  boats,  and  both  he  and  I  shall  anxiously  await  your 
arrival.  He  sends  you  two  responsible  people  with  them — the 
older  one  is  named  Monie-Ki-Umbwa,  and  the  other  Mato 
Kwan. 

"  '  You  will  have  purchased  food  for  the  road  by  the  time 
they  arrive.    If  you  have  not,  do  so  at  once. 

"  '  Try  and  gain  a  good  name  amongst  your  boatmen,  as 
they  come  from  different  kraals,  and,  of  course,  many  questions 
will  be  asked  them.  If  you  shoot  anything  along  the  road, 
take  as  much  as  you  will  require  for  yourself,  and  from  what 
part  you  like  best,  and  give  all  the  remainder  to  your  headman, 
Monie-Ki-Umbwa,  for  division  amongst  your  crews. 

"  '  The  king  must  have  brought  about  20,000  head  of  cattle, 
taken  in  war,  to  the  Barotse  Valley,  exclusive  of  what  have 
died  along  the  road  from  poverty  and  tsetse. 

"  '  Remember  me  to  Ratua,  and  Anshing  you  health  and 
success, 

"  '  I  am,  yours  faithfully, 

"  '  George  Westbeech.' 

"  With  fair  prospects  of  a  quick  journey  up  the  Zambesi, 
and  a  friendly  reception  from  the  chief  Liwanika,  I  started 
from  Shesheke.  During  the  first  few  days  the  journey  was  very 
pleasant.  Though  still  very  weak,  I  enjoyed  the  varied  scenes 
that  pass  before  one  on  an  African  river. 

"  On  one  occasion,  towards  evening,  going  round  a  sharp 
bend  in  the  river  close  to  the  bank,  we  came  upon  two  lions 
that  were  sporting  on  a  beautiful  sandy  beach.  The  male  at 
once  shook  his  shaggy  head,  lay  down  with  his  paws  out  as 
a  cat  does  when  watching  a  mouse,  and  kept  his  eye  upon  us. 
So  close  was  my  boat  to  the  beast  that  I  could  distinctly  see 
him  closing  one  eye  and  opening  the  other  alternately  as  he 
lay  surveying  us.  The  lioness  walked  up  and  down  in  a  restless 
manner  in  front  of  a  clump  of  reeds.  The  men  assured  me 
that  she  had  cubs  hidden  there.  At  another  point  the  boat 
was  passing  along  the  side  of  a  steep  bank,  covered  with  a  net- 


62  SPYING   OUT  THE   LAND 

work  of  roots,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  paddler  in  front  of  me 
spied  a  puff-adder  coiled  up.  He  immediately  Hfted  his  spear 
from  between  his  toes  and  threw  it  at  the  snake,  which  instantly- 
uncoiled  itself  and  struck  at  its  assailant,  grazing  my  hat  with 
its  fangs.  The  spear,  hov/ever,  had  done  its  work,  pinning  the 
lower  part  of  its  body  to  the  ground,  and  in  a  short  time  my 
men  killed  it. 

"  Shortly  after  leaving  Shesheke  I  found  the  country  entirely 
deserted  of  people.  Occasionally  we  came  upon  a  few  fisher- 
men throwing  their  nets,  or  some  wandering  Basubia  digging 
for  lotus  roots  among  the  lagoons  and  backwaters  ;  but  when 
they  saw  us  they  rushed  off  and  hid  themselves  in  the  bush. 
My  men,  however,  assured  me  that  there  w^ere  many  villages 
on  the  hills  on  each  side  of  the  river  ;  but  the  poor  people  seem 
to  dread  this  great  waterway,  which  no  doubt  has  been  used  by 
conquering  tribes  as  a  highway  for  their  evil  pursuits. 

"  Our  difficulties  began  when  we  entered  the  cataract  region. 
Although  the  river  was  low  at  this  time,  the  current  was  so 
strong  at  many  of  the  rapids  that  the  boats  had  to  be  unloaded 
and  the  goods  carried  overland,  that  the  boats  might  be 
dragged  up  the  river  empty.  At  N3^ambe  there  is  a  decided 
fall  in  the  river,  and  we  had  to  take  both  boats  and  goods' 
overland. 

"  After  leaving  Nyambe  we  were  dependent  entirely  for 
food  on  what  we  might  kill  in  the  bush.  We  were  unfortunate 
in  this,  however,  and  were  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  rather 
mean  ways  of  getting  our  supper.  Crocodiles  abound  in  this 
great  river,  and  they  are  very  artful.  When  the  larger  game 
come  down  to  drink  they  creep  up,  and  seizing  them  by  the 
nose,  drag  them  under  the  water.  By  this  means  the  crocodiles 
always  have  their  larders  well  supplied.  It  is  their  custom 
to  hide  the  food  thus  obtained  well  under  the  river's  bank  until 
it  becomes  rather  putrid,  and  to  bring  it  to  the  surface  for 
airing  before  eating.  I  used  to  lie  on  the  bank  of  the  river 
and  watch  these  animals  come  up  with  perhaps  a  quarter  of  an 
antelope,  and  by  firing  at  their  heads  I  compelled  them  to  drop 
their  supper,  which  my  men  picked  up  from  their  boats,  but 
it  afforded  us  anything  but  a  dainty  feast. 

"  On  one  occasion  we  made  for  the  deserted  camp  of  some 
elephant  hunters,  hoping  to  pick  up  their  scraps.  My  men 
got  a  few  bones  to  boil,  and  I  tried  to  pound  and  boil  for  a 


SPYING   OUT   THE   LAND  68 

long  time  a  piece  of  elephant's  skin  ;  but,  after  all,  it  was 
not  possible  to  eat  it. 

"  As  we  approached  the  Gonye  Falls  the  men  had  to  carry 
the  goods  overland  for  three  miles,  and  afterwards  come  back 
for  the  boats,  so  that  we  were  delayed  some  days.  I  tried  very 
hard  to  walk  across  the  belt  of  sand,  but  failed  completely, 
and  my  men  had  to  rig  up  a  hammock,  and  carry  me  after  the 
boats  and  goods  had  been  got  over.  We  were  entertained  at 
the  towTi  of  Silomba,  a  small  river  chief,  who  provided  us  with 
a  little  meal  and  maize-corn. 

"  From  this  point  the  banks  of  the  river  are  less  steep,  and 
the  country  around  us  is  more  flat.  A  terrific  hurricane  from 
the  south-west  burst  upon  us  one  afternoon,  lashing  the  river 
into  violent  waves,  and  compelling  my  boatmen  to  flee  for 
shelter.  No  sooner  had  we  touched  the  bank  than  my  canoe, 
which  had  been  gradually  filling,  sank.  Nothing,  however, 
floated  away,  as  the  men  had  taken  the  precaution  to  bind  my 
bundles  to  the  canoe  with  cords.  So  long  as  the  storm  lasted 
we  could  do  nothing  but  seek  to  shelter  ourselves  under  a  few 
bushes. 

"  Later  on,  the  men  went  down  to  the  sunken  canoe,  and  as 
the  water  was  not  deep,  they  succeeded  in  removing  my  goods 
without  much  difficulty.  Their  plan  of  getting  the  water  out 
of  the  canoe  was  simple  but  ingenious.  They  seized  the  canoe 
by  the  bow,  jerked  it  forward,  and  thus  set  the  water  within  in 
motion  ;  then  they  pushed  the  canoe  back,  and  the  water  flowed 
out.  By  repeating  this  process  the  canoe  was  emptied  of  per- 
haps a  ton  of  water  in  a  few  minutes. 

"  Hea\'y  rains  now  set  in.  It  was  some  days  before  I  could 
get  my  blankets  dried  after  their  soaking  in  the  river  ;  and 
thankful  I  was  to  reach  the  town  of  Nalolo,  who  is  a  sister 
of  the  chief  Liwanika.  She  did  her  best  to  make  us  comfortable, 
and  supplied  me  with  food.  My  men  built  a  long,  low  shed 
with  reeds  and  grass,  and  kindled  large  fires,  and,  with  sunshine 
for  the  next  few  days,  I  got  my  calico,  clothes,  and  other  things 
dried.  The  few  books  I  had  were  more  or  less  destroyed.  When 
at  last  we  had  got  things  fairly  comfortable  again,  and  were 
hoping  to  start  next  day,  heavy  dark  clouds  arose  from  the 
south,  which  increased  so  quickly  that  in  a  short  time  the 
whole  southern  sky  was  inky-black.  My  men  ran  to  the  river, 
and  drew  the  boats  to  shelter  on  the  bank,  cut  a  little  extra 


64  SPYING   OUT  THE   LAND 

grass  and  laid  it  on  our  shed,  and  as  it  faced  the  north  we 
thought  it  might  afford  us  sufficient  shelter.  The  hurricane 
broke  mercilessly  over  our  little  camp,  and  with  such  force 
as  to  carry  all  our  shed  and  carefully  made  little  huts,  into  the 
river,  leaving  me  and  my  newly  spread  bed  and  a  few  precious 
bundles  exposed  to  the  torrents  of  rain  that  poured  down  for 
the  first  part  of  the  night,  and  extinguished  all  our  fires,  leaving 
us  in  a  more  desolate  and  forlorn  condition  than  before.  A  little 
sunshine,  however,  next  day  enabled  me  to  dry  things  some- 
what, and  off  we  started,  making  our  way  through  a  flat, 
grassy  country.  My  boats  were  repeatedly  chased  by  hippo- 
potami. Along  the  banks  of  the  river  we  saw  large  herds  of 
cattle  grazing.  The  population  of  the  Barotse  Valley,  though 
considerable,  is  very  much  scattered  ;  but  all  the  people  are 
more  or  less,  breeders  of  cattle. 

"  There  is  an  open  door  for  the  Gospel  here.  I  could  not, 
in  fact,  with  any  comfort,  now  leave  to  return  home.  All 
the  mass  of  the  people  along  the  river  represent  many  tribes, 
formerly  conquered  by  the  Makololo,  a  Basuto  tribe  from  the 
south,  whose  language  is  almost  identical  with  that  of  the 
Bechuana.  These  conquered  tribes,  being  all  together,  re- 
quired one  language,  and,  of  course,  they  all  learnt  the  Seko- 
lolo.  Twelve  years  ago  or  so  the  Barotse,  one  of  the  con- 
quered tribes,  rose  up  and  killed  all  the  Makololo  men  (leaving 
only  the  women  alive),  but  they  retained  the  language  of  the 
Makololo,  so  that  amongst  these  many  tribes  and  peoples  I 
can  \yiih  comparative  ease  talk  a  little  of  the  things  of  God, 
seeing  that  the  Sechuana,  which  I  have  learned,  is  almost 
identical  with  their  tongue.  When  last  up  the  river  large 
companies  listened  attentively  to  the  reading  of  Scripture, 
and  asked  many  questions.  They  have  heard  of  teachers  living 
among  other  tribes,  and  have  a  slight  idea  of  one  or  two  of  the 
outward  effects  of  the  Gospel,  but  of  the  Gospel  itself,  or  of 
God,  they  are  thoroughly  ignorant.  They  do  speak  of  a  god 
they  call '  Nambi,'  who  lives  among  the  stars,  and  they  acknow- 
ledge his  power  over  life  and  death  ;  but  further  than  that  I 
can  say  nothing.  Otherwise,  the  depth  of  their  heathenism 
seems  unfathomable ;  secret  bloodshed,  superstition  and 
enchantments  everywhere  prevail.  How  we  should  rejoice  and 
praise  the  Lord  that  even  the  ears  of  those  who  have  for  ages 
been  in  such  a  state  should  be  opened  to  hea*-  God's  Word  ! 


SPYING   OUT  THE   LAND  65 

I  do  greatly  thank  the  Lord  for  giving  me  such  a  privilege  as 
to  read  and  seek  to  make  them  understand  it ;  but  the  trying 
part  of  the  work  will  not,  I  am  sure,  be  forgotten  in  your 
prayers.  Oh,  the  patience  that  is  needed,  seeing  how  bitter 
and  deadly  is  the  opposition  of  the  medicine-men  and  doctors, 
who  live  by  their  craft  !  The  power  of  those  men  is  very  great, 
but  '  God  is  stronger  than  His  foes.'  Surely  I  can  but  say, 
'  All  my  springs  are  in  Thee  '  ;  for  this  work  is  too  great  for  me. 
"  As  for  my  soul's  prosperity  in  this  great  country,  I  still 
ask  for  your  prayers  in  a  special  way.  I  had  thought  that, 
being  alone  and  away  from  all  controversies,  and  many  other 
evil  influences,  I  should  attain  to  a  more  spiritual  and  devoted 
state  ;  but  I  have  learnt  that  the  one  drag  to  a  soul's  com- 
munion with  God  is  a  thing  tied  to  it,  this  old  dead  self,  which, 
in  the  absence  of  Christian  fellowship,  is  more  inclined  to  in- 
crease in  bulk  in  my  solitude  than  to  diminish.  Yet,  thinking 
of  all,  I  can  but  magnify  the  grace  and  the  wisdom  of  God." 


CHAPTER    VI 

AMONGST   THE    BAEOTSE 

DECEMBER  imh,  1882.— I  arrived  safely  at  Lealui 
on  Nov.  20th.  As  the  lukamba  or  landing  place 
for  the  town  was  at  that  season  some  five  miles 
distant,  we  had  to  wait  for  porters  from  the  king  to  carry  my 
bundles  up  to  the  capital.  Night  fell,  so  there  v/as  nothing  for 
it  but  to  huddle  together  without  fires  or  shelter,  and  wait  for 
the  morning.  We  were  cold  and  hungry,  and  my  men  so 
cross  that  they  were  ready  to  fight  with  one  another  over 
anything.  Something  had  to  be  done,  and  the  idea  struck 
me  of  starting  a  needle-threading  competition  in  the  dark  ; 
for  in  Africa  the  men  are  more  interested  in  needles  and  in 
sewing  than  the  women.  To  their  great  surprise  I  succeeded 
in  threading  the  needle  every  time  it  came  round  to  my  turn  ;- 
and  so  hour  after  hour  passed,  but  they  could  not  do  it,  and 
had  to  give  up  from  sheer  exhaustion  without  finding  out  the 
trick  of  holding  the  eye  of  a  needle  up  to  a  bright  star. 

"  With  morning  hght,  porters  arrived,  and  a  horse  from  the 
king  to  take  me  to  the  reed  and  grass  hut  he  had  prepared. 
Liwanika  came  to  greet  me.  I  was  much  taken  with  his  appear- 
ance— bright  and  smiling  and  alert.  But,  oh  dear  !  my  hut 
had  been  built  only  the  day  before  ;  the  ground  was  wet,  the 
grass  was  wet  through  and  through,  and  reeked  ;  firewood 
was  out  of  the  question.  A  bush  with  a  hollow  wood  stalk 
that  grew  in  the  plain  like  the  castor-oil  plant,  was  the  only 
firewood  available.  Bouts  of  fever  laid  me  prostrate  every 
third  or  fourth  day.    I  could  neither  eat  nor  sleep. 

"  To  cro"WTi  all  my  miseries  I  had  to  witness  trials  for  witch- 
craft taking  place  daily  in  front  of  my  hut.  A  small  company 
gathered  just  in  front  of  me,  and  began  an  animated  dis- 
cussion, which  grew  hotter  and  hotter,  and  shortly  a  large 
fire  was  kindled,  and  a  pot  of  water  set  on  it.  The  two  persons 
charged  had  to  wash  their  hands  in  the  water,  and  if,  after 

66 


AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE  67 

24  hours,  the  skin  came  off,  the  victims  were  to  be  burnt  aUve. 
First  one,  then  the  other,  dipped  his  hands  in  the  fiercely  boiling 
water,  lifting  some  up  and  pouring  it  over  the  wrist.  Twenty- 
four  hours  told  its  tale,  and  I  saw  the  poor  fellows  march  off 
to  be  burned  before  a  howling,  cursing  crowd. 

"  One  evening  as  I  was  sitting  enjoying  the  cool  evening  air 
at  my  hut  door,  two  young  men  came  running  rapidly  towards 
me.  I  saw  that  one  was  bound,  and  that  the  other  carried  a 
short  club  in  his  hand.  When  well  in  front  of  my  hut,  and 
quite  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  the  man  with  the  club 
gave  his  prisoner  a  sharp  blow  on  the  back  of  the  head,  killing 
him  instantly.  This  was  an  execution,  and  the  wild  animals 
and  vultures  saw  to  the  final  disposal  of  the  body. 

"  March  2nd,  1883.  [To  his  mother.] — I  write  this  short 
line  in  the  hope  that  it  may  by  some  means  reach  you  before 
the  large  one  that  is  at  present  in  process  of  scribation  which 
I  will  send  vnih  the  first  certain  opportunity.  This  letter  goes 
to  Panda-ma-tenka.  From  there  it  is  possible  that  some  men 
may  be  going  to  visit  Lobengula,  the  king  of  the  Matabele. 
From  there  it  may  go  by  occasional  post  or  messenger  to  Tati. 
and  Shoshong.  I  cannot  write  much  as  it  may  be  opened 
many  times.  I  am  getting  on  fairly  well,  and  am  getting  the 
confidence  of  many  of  the  people  here,  and  the  affection  of  some 
who  treat  me  very  kindly,  chief  among  whom  is  the  king.  To 
give  you  a  running  account  of  things  :  I  arrived  here  on  the 
20th  of  November,  26  days  by  boat  from  Shesheke  ;  much 
weakness  on  the  road,  and  one  or  two  relapses  of  fever.  Cata- 
racts very  bad  ;  rain,  rain,  all  the  way  ;  wet  blankets,  wet 
clothes  ;  robbed  by  the  men  the  king  sent  to  fetch  me,  and 
poor,  weak  Fred  could  only  lie  quietly  and  smile.  Twenty-six 
days  I  won't  forget,  not  so  much  because  of  any  small  suffering, 
but  because  of  the  goodness  and  comfort  of  the  Lord.  The 
king  reserved  me  a  house,  and  gave  me  an  ox  to  kill.  He 
provided  food  in  abundance,  and  ordered  one  of  his  own 
servants  to  live  with  me  and  serve  me.  The  king  is  a  man 
about  my  own  age,  very  pleasant  looking,  always  smiling, 
fond  of  everything  European  ;  eats  always  with  a  knife  and 
fork  ;  favourite  pastime  making  wooden  spoons  and  drum- 
sticks (drumming  goes  on  in  the  kotla  night  and  day).  The 
people  are  fond  of  noise,  and  dance  and  sing  continually.  They 
come  in  troops  to  my  house  which  is  the  museum  of  the  town, 


68  AMONGST  THE   BAROTSE 

and  the  white  man,  I  suppose,  the  living  Hon.  They  want  to 
feel  my  hair  and  see  my  feet.  This  I  bear  with,  though  I  get 
to  plain  words  sometimes.  Poor  things  !  I  fear  they  little 
understand  my  mission.  The  fever  has  left  my  mind  weak* 
For  some  weeks  I  had  forgotten  almost  everything,  could 
scarce  speak  my  own  language.  .  .  .  The  more  I  think  of  it 
the  less  possible  it  seems  to  me  that  this  letter  will  reach  you, 
so  that  to  write  anything  like  a  long  one  is  difficult.  A  waggon 
has  arrived  at  Panda-ma-tenka,  and  goods  have  come  up  for 
the  king,  but  no  letters  for  me  except  a  few  hues  from  Mr. 
Westbcech.  Where  have  all  my  home  letters  gone  to  ?  Last 
letters  dated  7th  April,  1882,  near  a  twelve -month  ago. 
Mr.  Westbeech  sent  me  up  a  small  bag  of  wheat  meal,  a  little 
tea,  coffee  and  cocoa,  for  which  I  am  most  thankful.  At  the 
same  time,  after  a  long  blank,  the  king  gave  me  another  ox  to 
kill  so  that  I  was  able  to  dine  on  beef,  bread  and  coffee. 

"  March  15th,  1883. — Sorry  I  have  not  been  able  to  make 
daily  notes.  It  is  only  within  the  last  few  weeks  that  I  have 
felt  my  strength  returning  in  any  measure.  The  first  hut  the 
king  gave  me  is  now  in  ruins  from  the  flood.  He  then  gave 
me  another  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  but  it  was  dry  for  one 
day  only.  One  night  of  frightfully  heavy  rains  flooded  hut' 
and  yard,  and  sadly  wetted  my  small  stock  of  goods.  The 
rain  continued  for  days.  The  king  could  give  me  no  dry  hut, 
so  I  just  had  to  lie  to,  day  after  day,  in  that  filthy  round  hut, 
scarcely  wide  enough  for  me  at  full  length,  with  my  goods 
rotting  by  my  side,  and  a  perfect  swarm  of  rats  devouring 
everything,  and  running  over  me  at  night.  There  for  ten  long 
daj's  I  sat  on  my  stool  in  semi-darkness  by  day,  or  lay  by 
night,  in  perfect  inactivity.  At  last  the  rains  ceased  a  bit, 
and  I  went  out  to  seek  a  hut.  I  got  one  from  a  headman  and 
at  once  entered  it.  It  was  dry  and  comfortable,  so  I  remained 
there  for  ten  days.  The  damp  house,  and  about  a  month's 
feeding  on  native  porridge  (without  milk),  morning,  noon, 
and  night,  brought  on  an  attack  of  dysentery  ;  yet  I  cannot 
but  recognise  the  hand  of  the  Lord  in  preserving  my  life  in 
such  trying  circumstances. 

"  Towards  the  end  of  February,  when  the  Zambesi  overflows 
its  banks  for  miles  on  either  side,  the  king  and  almost  all  the 
people  removed  to  their  summer  town,  Mafula.  Liwanika 
invited  me  into  his  large  boat  (made  of  several  canoes) ;   and 


AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE  69 

perhaps  2,000  canoes  accompanied  us.  This  annual  flitting  is 
made  the  opportunity  for  a  grand  display  of  native  African 
pageantry.  Planks,  hewn  from  great  mahogany  trees,  are 
shaped  and  seA\Ti  together  to  make  a  barge  capable  of  carry- 
ing the  king's  court  intact.  Here  in  the  centre  stand  his 
seat  of  state  and  his  drums  ;  his  flesh-pots  are  cooking  over 
fires  kindled  on  thick  layers  of  clay  ;  his  principal  courtiers 
sit  all  around,  and  40  headmen  and  nobles  of  the  Valley  punt 
and  paddle  with  long  poles,  not  to  speak  of  the  gang  of  slaves 
vigorously  baling,  and  three  or  four  ship's  carpenters  going 
about  with  bundles  of  bark-string  oakum,  stopping  up  the 
innumerable  leaks  and  longing  earnestly  for  the  dry  land  to 
appear  again.  Hundreds  of  canoes,  formed  in  battle  array  on 
either  side,  completed  the  spectacle. 

"  By  this  time  I  was  on  fairly  good  terms  with  Liwanika. 
He  and  his  headmen  had  decided  to  wait  for  M.  and  Madame 
Coillard  on  the  one  condition  that  I  would  remain  with  him 
until  they  arrived.    This  I  gladly  consented  to  do. 

"  At  Mafula  I  had  much  discomfort  and  losses  by  robbing. 
The  king  was  taken  ill,  and  then  a  lot  of  goods  arrived  from 
Mr.  Westbeech.  He  asked  me  to  receive  them,  and  my  hut 
was  packed  for  days.  I  had  nine  men  beside  my  own  to 
provide  for  and  look  after  for  about  20  days.  I  also  had  a 
serious  relapse  of  fever.  The  place  was  surrounded  with 
marsh. 

^^April  8th,  1883. — My  sickness  is  now  over,  and  I  am  faring 
well,  though  food  is  very  dear  and  scarce.  I  have  had  a  school 
here  for  some  little  time.  The  boys  learn  pretty  well,  but  it 
requires  patience  and  perseverance  to  look  after  them.  Hunt- 
ing a  young  truant  from  house  to  house  under  a  hot  sun  is  not 
pleasant.  The  parents  show  little  interest ;  in  fact,  they  have 
little  influence  over  their  children.  The  leather  thong  rules  the 
family  above  a  certain  age. 

"  A  short  time  after  I  began  teaching,  the  king  cross-ques- 
tioned me  as  to  what  I  had  come  to  teach.  I  spoke  to  him  of 
sin,  death,  and  judgment,  and  of  God's  love  in  the  gift  of  His 
Son,  and  he  listened  attentively.  '  This,'  I  said,  '  was  my 
first  and  chief  message,  besides  which  I  wanted  to  teach  the 
children  to  read  and  write  ;  also  all  about  the  world  they  live  in, 
and  other  things  that  white  men  know,  which  are  good  for  all 
people  to  know.'    The  king  then  said,  '  Yes,  yes,  that  is  good, 


70  AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE 

to  read,  write,  and  to  know  numbers.  But  don't,  don't  teach 
them  the  Word  of  God  ;  it's  not  nice.  My  people  are  not  all 
going  to  die  now.  No,  no,  you  must  not  teach  that  in  this 
country.  We  know  quite  enough  about  God  and  dying.'  I 
kept  silent  till  his  excitement  was  over,  and  then  said  that  wc 
would  talk  again  when  he  thought  more.  The  school  went  on 
for  two  months  longer,  when  it  had  to  be  stopped  because 
of  an  affection  of  my  eyes.  After  recovering  I  again  had  talks 
with  his  majesty  on  the  above  subjects.  He  never  again  got 
excited  as  before,  and  would  occasionally  express  his  confi- 
dence in  me  that  I  had  come  to  teach  them  good  things.  He 
knew,  he  said,  that  I  was  one  of  God's  men  because  I  shewed 
that  I  loved  the  people  and  the  children  ;  and  one  day  without 
my  asking  he  said  that  I  could  teach  all  his  people  and  children 
the  words  of  God,  giving  me  perfect  liberty  in  his  country. 

"  For  nearly  six  weeks  I  suffered  severely  from  acute  rheu- 
matic arthritis — a  common  sequel  to  malarial  fever.  During 
that  time  I  had  to  bury  myself  in  my  hut ;  but  those  grass- 
covered  hovels  are  anjiihing  but  dark,  and,  in  spite  of  all  the 
bandages  and  skins  A^dth  which  I  covered  my  head  as  I  lay  on 
the  ground,  rays  of  light  would  come  through,  intensifying  the 
pain  in  my  eyes. 

"  On  May  10th  we  returned  to  Lealui. 

"  A  week  or  so  after  my  return  to  Lealui  two  Jesuits  came 
to  see  the  king.  Four  had  left  Panda-ma-tenka,  but  one  had 
to  return  because  of  sickness.  Another  was  drowned  on  the 
way  up,  through  the  upsetting  of  the  boat  in  the  rapids. 
The  king  and  headmen  had  a  large  meeting,  and  told  these 
priests  they  could  not  stay.  They  were  friendly  with,  me,  and 
I  bought  a  few  small  things  from  them.  The  smallness  of  their 
present  to  the  chief,  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  goods 
they  had  brought  for  their  OA\'n  consumption,  was  no  doubt  the 
cause  of  the  ill-favour  shown  by  Liwanika  to  them.  He  went 
to  visit  them  one  afternoon,  expecting  to  get  more  from  them, 
but  AAath  no  better  success,  and  he  came  along  to  my  little  hut 
in  a  very  bad  humour.  Sitting  down,  he  said,  '  They  are  not 
the  men  for  my  country  ;  they  have  no  sense.'  Without 
waiting  for  a  reply  from  me,  he  called  one  of  his  men,  and  sent 
him  to  the  hut  of  the  Jesuits  to  ask  for  a  needle  and  thread. 
The  man  r  turned  with  but  one  needle  and  a  single  thread, 
which  Liwanika  held  up  in  triumph  before  me,  saying,  '  Didn't 


AMONGST  THE   BAROTSE  71 

I  tell  you  these  people  had  no  sense  ?  If  they  had  they  would 
have  given  me  a  packet  of  needles  and  a  bundle  of  thread.' 

"  Haxang  recovered  somewhat  I  proposed  to  return  to 
Panda-ma-tenka  hoping  to  hear  of  someone  coming  to  join 
me  in  the  work.  For  some  time  before  I  left  Liwanika  was 
more  friendly  towards  me,  and  I  had  many  talks  with  him. 
He  did  not  get  so  excited  as  before,  and  would  occasionally 
express  his  confidence  in  me,  saying  that  he  believed  I  had 
come  to  teach  them  good  things,  assuring  me  also  of  my 
having  perfect  liberty  in  his  country  to  teach  the  Word  of 
God  to  old  and  young.  My  supplies  were  now  completely 
run  out,  and  on  this  account  also  I  was  compelled  to  make  a 
trip  down  the  river.  As  yet,  with  careful  planning,  I  had  been 
able  to  buy  nearly  all  I  needed.  Although  the  king  was  always 
ready  to  give  me  presents  of  food,  I  generally  refused,  not 
wishing  to  afford  the  baser  sort  occasion  for  remark,  as  they 
watch  all  strangers  and  visitors  with  a  jealous  eye,  lest  they 
should  rob  them  of  their  share  of  the  king's  bounty.  I  have 
been  compelled  to  part  Avith  everything  saleable,  and  am 
now  under  skins  instead  of  blankets. 

"  June  12th,  1883. — The  king  sent  me  away  in  his  largest 
river  boat  with  good  men,  and  with  instructions  that  I  was  to 
be  landed  while  the  boat  was  shooting  the  rapids.  Besides 
Khama's  young  man,  Setobi,  a  little  lad,  named  Sikinini, 
accompanied  me.  We  have  now  been  12  days  on  the  river,  but 
delays  have  been  constant.  Oh,  these  people  are  slow  !  We 
stopped  at  Litofe  two  nights,  and  I  was  nearly  devoured  by 
mosquitoes  and  vermin.  I  have  had  two  fever  relapses,  but 
not  severe  ones. 

"  Shesheke. — After  a  very  tedious  journey  we  arrived  here. 
My  principal  food  was  buffalo  meat,  as  I  had  not  goods  enough 
to  buy  sufficient  corn  for  the  road.  The  boats  got  through 
the  rapids  without  serious  damage.  I  preferred  being  wetted 
with  the  water  to  getting  my  legs  cut  with  rocks  and  reeds, 
and  did  not  leave  the  boat,  but  we  had  a  narrow  escape  at  one 
point. 

"  Leshuma,  July  3rd,  1883.  [To  his  father.] — I  received 
your  letter  of  the  9th  August,  1882,  only  ten  days  ago.  I 
assure  you  I  was  glad  to  see  your  handwriting  again,  and  it 
was  the  first  letter  I  read.  I  got  43  in  all.  I  came  out  from 
the  Barotse  now  with  the  intention  of  going  at  least  as  far  as 


72  AMONGST  THE  BAROTSE 

Shoshong  with  the  hope  that  there  I  might  meet  with  someone 
to  join  me,  but  OAving  to  a  short  Hne  I  got  from  Mr.  Beaumont, 

Natal,  saying  that  B had  decided  not  to  come,  I  could 

not  find  any  proper  reason  for  going  further  than  Panda-ma- 
tenka.  Besides  I  have  had  such  a  long  journey  down  the 
river,  so  much  time  put  off  by  the  king's  headmen  in  charge  of 
the  company,  hunting  and  collecting  ivory  for  trade,  that  now 
it  is  too  late  for  a  stranger  to  the  country,  as  I  am,  to  go  out 
with  a  light  ox-cart  as  I  had  planned.  The  water  on  the  road 
is  drying  up  so  quickly,  and  travelhng  now  to  Shoshong  I 
should  have  to  be  acquainted  with  all  the  extra  waters  off 
the  road.  Mr.  Westbeech  has  just  come  in  with  a  large  stock 
of  goods  for  trade  so  that  I  will  be  able  to  get  from  him  a  fair 
supply  of  stuff,  although  at  a  long  price.  My  progress  in 
the  Barotse  has  been  slow  during  the  past  months.  In  the 
first  place  the  language  spoken  there  is  very  much  mixed  up, 
the  words  of  many  tribes  being  introduced  into  the  language 
of  the  Sekololo,  which  is  a  sister  language  to  the  Sechuana. 
And  then  the  fever  for  a  time  sadly  distorted  my  mental 
faculties.  It  is  a  distressing  fever,  and  I  think  I  have  got 
over  it  easily.  One  thing  with  the  fever  here,  it  never  returns, 
with  the  same  acuteness  as  at  the  first.  After  recovering  strength 
a  bit,  on  my  arrival  at  the  king's  towTi  I  tried  to  get  up  a 
small  day-school  for  children,  but  the  king  always  put  it  off ; 
and  of  course  the  Barotse  would  not  send  their  sons  until  the 
king  gave  some  consent.  They  also  seemed  suspicious  of  my 
books,  schools,  etc.  They  seemed  afraid  that  their  children 
would  become  wiser  than  they  and  learn  the  sorceries  of  the 
white  man.  I  had  but  to  wait  on  quietly  and  leave  the  matter 
of  a  school  in  stronger  hands,  studying  the  language  and  talking 
quietly  with  the  people  meanwhile.  Again  I  spoke  to  the 
king  with  a  little  better  result,  the  third  time  still  better,  but 
beyond  a  mere  expression  of  confidence  in  me  he  gave  no 
decided  reply.  However,  I  made  bold  to  set  about  advertising 
my,  as  yet,  scholarless  school.  I  went  to  the  king's  eldest 
son,  and  some  of  his  other  boys,  and  to  some  fathers  to  get 
their  sons.  In  a  few  days  three  boys  came,  the  king's  son 
and  nephew,  and  another  lad.  This  was  my  beginning.  We 
went  on  for  a  few  days  ;  then  I  went  and  told  the  king  of 
what  was  going  on.  He  seemed  pleased.  I  complained  to  him 
of  his  nephew  who  did  not  seem  to  care  about  learning  any 


AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE  73 

longer,  and  latterly  was  only  got  to  school  by  a  good  deal  of 
running  after  on  my  part.  The  king  turned  to  one  of  his 
servants  at  once  and  ordered  him  to  go  and  tell  his  nephew 
that  he  must  attend  school  at  once,  and  regularly.  From 
this  I  saw  that  I  had  got  his  full  consent  to  carry  on  a 
school. 

"  On  the  17th  of  July  I  left  Leshuma  for  Panda-ma-tenka 
with  the  view  of  making  purchases  at  Mr.  Westbeech's  store 
there.  The  first  day's  walk  of  20  miles  sadly  blistered  my 
feet,  making  one  of  them  very  sore.  Next  day  we  had  hoped  to 
reach  the  Gashuma  Wells,  but  my  sore  feet  hindered  me  greatly. 
I.  however,  hobbled  on  until  nearly  midnight,  when  we  came 
upon  smouldering  fires  which  had  been  left  by  a  company  of 
raiding  Matabele.  I  called  to  the  men  to  lie  down  and  rest, 
knowing  that  we  should  come  to  water  after  a  short  march 
next  morning.  Before  going  to  sleep  I  commended  all  to  God, 
and  asked  Him  in  prayer  to  lead  us  safely  to  some  place  where 
we  should  have  a  supply  of  water  next  morning.  Little 
Sikinini,  who  had  heard  my  request,  and  probably  thought 
that  I  was  suffering  from  want  of  water,  could  not  rest  with 
the  others,  but  started  off  alone  in  the  direction  of  the  water. 
After  a  few  hours'  sleep  we  got  up  to  continue  our  journey,  as 
the  day  was  breaking.  To  my  surprise  I  met  Sikinini  coming 
back  with  a  calabash  of  water  in  one  hand,  and  a  cup  in  the 
other.  The  little  fellow  had  got  to  the  water  during  the  night, 
and  had  brought  back  a  supply  for  his  master. 

"  When  within  about  20  miles  of  Panda  I  met  a  hunter, 
whose  horse  I  hired,  and  rode  into  the  town,  where  I  remained 
five  days,  and  was  able  to  buy  enough  barter  goods  to  keep  me 
going  for  six  or  nine  months.  The  crops  have  nearly  all  failed 
this  year  at  the  Barotse,  so  that  living  wll  be  very  dear  ;  and 
I  have  to  pay  a  heavy  price  here  for  very  poor  calico  ;  the 
white  is  the  best  for  buying  food. 

"  Leaving  Panda-ma-tenka  again  on  the  26th  of  July,  I 
arrived  at  Leshuma  on  the  fourth  day.  To  show  how  quickly 
the  water  dries  up  here,  I  may  mention  that  where,  ten  daj'^s 
before,  we  found  quite  a  large  piece  of  water,  we  now  had  to 
dig  for  it,  and  only  got  a  little  muddy  stuff  for  our  trouble. 

^''August  7th,  1883. — Having  now  a  suitable  opportunity  I 
started  from  Leshuma  this  morning  for  the  Victoria  Falls. 
Had  a  pleasant  day's  walk  to  the  river  over  desolate  country. 


71  AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE 

Camped  in  the  evening  on  the  steep,  wooded  banks  of  the 
Zambesi,  surrounded  by  most  beautiful  scenery. 

''August  8th. — Walked  some  distance  along  the  river,  stop- 
ping opposite  to  Sepupwa's  to^\^l  to  engage  one  or  two  more 
carriers,  and  buy  corn,  etc. 

''August  9th. — The  country  was  very  rough  and  wild  ;  no 
path  ;  constant  stumbhng  over  big  boulders,  and  ploughing 
through  high  grass  and  reeds.  The  grass  in  many  places  is 
hke  long  lances,  cutting  one's  hands  and  face  frightfully  at 
times.  Mr.  E.  Selous  fell  into  a  game  pit,  and  got  hurt  slightly. 
These  pits  are  very  cleverly  covered  over  wth  sticks,  grass, 
etc.,  so  that  they  are  very  dangerous  to  strangers. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day  after  leaving  Leshuma  we 
reached  the  Falls.  I  had  expected  something  grand,  but 
never  anything  so  stupendous  and  terrific  as  they  appear  ; 
yet  they  are  beautiful  in  the  extreme.  The  depth  of  the  fall  of 
water  is  about  400  feet.  In  some  parts  it  breaks,  in  descending, 
over  projecting  crags,  and  in  other  parts  comes  over  in  one 
sheer  plump.  The  cloud  of  spray,  in  which  beautiful  rainbows 
appear,  rises  a  long  distance  into  the  air,  falhng  again  over 
the  banks  as  it  is  blown  by  the  vnnd,  so  that  the  vegetation 
close  to  the  Falls  is  of  the  richest  and  most  tropical  character 
I  have  yet  seen." 

"  Here  I  had  a  narrow  escape  from  a  lion.  Walking  along 
alone,  a  horrid  growl  and  rustle  of  bushes  at  my  very  side 
startled  me.  I  must  have  been  within  a  few  feet  of  the  monster 
whose  voice  was  unmistakable.  Turning  back  I  walked  slowly 
backward,  with  my  eyes  on  the  spot,  and  then,  when  well  clear, 
I  went  off  at  a  quick  walk.  I  had  not  a  gun  with  me.  On 
returning  to  camp  I  found  that  two  large  lions  had  come  up 
in  broad  dayhght  to  within  60  yards  of  the  camp.  They  were 
shot  at,  and  one,  which  was  wounded,  again  came  fiercely  up 
at  night,  and  would  have  done  mischief  had  not  all  been 
awake,  and  kept  him  off  \\ith  shouting,  scattering  fire,  etc." 

It  was  concerning  this  visit  to  the  Falls  that  Sir  Ralph 
Williams  WTOte  several  years  later,  in  How  I  Became  a  Governor, 
the  follo^^^ng  testimony  to  Arnot : — "  At  the  great  Fall  (the 
Victoria)  we  crawled  to  the  very  edge,  and  lying  flat  looked 
down  into  the  chasm  below.  .  .  .  WTiile  thus  wondering  we 
were  amazed  to  see  two  white  men  coming  towards  us,  who 
proved  to  be  Mr.  Edmund  Selous,  the  brother  of  the  famous 


AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE  75 

hunter,  and  Mr.  Arnot,  a  Missionary  amongst  the  Barotse  and 
later  on  I  think,  a  Gold  MedaUist  of  the  R.G.S.  It  was  a 
strange  place  in  which  to  foregather.  Mr.  Arnot,  the  Mission- 
ary, was  a  remarkable  man.  I  met  him  some  weeks  later,  and 
had  many  talks  "with  him.  He  was  the  simplest  and  most 
earnest  of  men.  He  lived  a  life  of  great  hardship  under  the 
care  of  the  king  of  the  Barotse,  and  taught  his  children.  I 
remember  him  telling  me  Av^ith  some  pride  that  his  pupils  had 
mastered  the  alphabet.  I  have  seen  many  missionaries  under 
varied  circumstances,  but  such  an  absolutely  forlorn  man 
existing  on  from  day  to  day,  almost  homeless,  without  any  of 
the  appliances  that  make  life  bearable,  I  have  never  seen. 
He  was  imbued  with  one  desire,  and  that  was  to  do  God 
ser\'ice.  Whether  it  could  be  best  done  in  that  way  I  will  not 
here  question,  but  he  looked  neither  right  nor  left,  caring 
nothing  for  himself  if  he  could  but  get  one  to  believe  ;  at 
least  so  he  struck  me.  And  I  have  honoured  the  recollections 
of  him  ever  since  as  being  as  near  his  Master  as  anyone  I  ever 
saw." 

Arnot's  story  continues  : 

"  On  the  north  side  of  the  river  one,  Mosotan,  has  a  large 
to^Ml.  I  had  met  him  before,  and  sent  word  that  I  wanted  to 
visit  his  to'wn.  He  sent  two  of  his  men  to  greet  me,  with  a 
large  calabash  of  motoha,  a  native  drink,  and  asked  me  to  go 
up  the  river  to  his  drift  or  ferry.  According  to  promise  I 
went  next  day,  and  he  was  very  glad  to  see  me,  and  gave  me 
a  goat  for  food.  In  the  evening  I  crossed  over  and  walked  to 
his  towTi,  and  spent  the  first  part  of  the  night  surrounded  by 
crowds  of  his  people  dancing  and  drumming.  These  Batoka 
are  very  open  to  conversation,  more  so  than  to  be  lectured  to. 
I  stayed  the  next  day  with  them,  and  left  early  the  following 
morning,  travelling  back  again  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river. 
We  came  upon  many  companies  of  scattered  Batoka  and 
Basubia,  with  whom  I  had  short  conversations  in  passing. 
Towards  the  evening  of  the  second  day  we  made  for  the  town 
of  Sepupwa,  on  an  island  in  the  river,  and  camped  there.  In 
the  morning  we  hailed  the  people,  but  were  told  that  as  the 
headman  of  the  town  was  absent  they  could  not  speak  with 
us,  nor  send  boats  across.  I  waited  and  tried  to  persuade 
them,  but  they  said  they  were  all  slaves,  and  were  afraid  to 
look  at  strangers.    Another  day  brought  us  to  Mahaha's  town, 


76  AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE 

close  to  the  Gezangula  ferry  by  which  we  intended  to  cross. 
Our  way  lay  across  low,  flat  country,  full  of  marsh,  which  we 
had  to  wade  through,  sometimes  struggling  for  miles  up  to  the 
waist  in  water  and  rotting  grass.  I  knew  Mahaha  pretty  well, 
having  met  him  at  Lealui.  Next  morning  we  crossed  over  and 
walked  to  Leshuma,  where  I  waited  for  carriers  from  Shesheke 
to  take  me  up  the  river. 

"  Shortly  after  my  return  to  Leshuma,  Ratua,  from  She- 
sheke, came  down  with  others  saying  that  the  king  had  sent 
the  headman  from  the  upper  river  with  his  boat  to  take  mc 
up.  Ratua  laughed  outright  when  he  saw  me,  began  by  poking 
my  cheeks  and  saying  : — '  There  is  nothing  but  fat  there,  noth- 
ing but  fat  !  '  It  is  quite  true  what  the  old  man  says,  but  I 
feel  greatly  ashamed  to  own  it,  that  I  am  really  getting  fat ;  I 
hope  not  fat  and  lazy.  He  then  turned  to  those  around  and 
began  describing  touchingly  the  state  I  was  in  when  I  came 
up  to  Shesheke  sick.  '  I  came  to  his  hut,'  he  said.  '  I  asked 
Setobi  where  is  the  teacher,  your  master  ?  '  'I  don't  know,' 
replied  Setobi,  '  I  don't  know  whether  he  is  in  this  world  or 
not.'  '  I  went,'  continued  Ratua,  '  and  lifted  the  door.  I 
saw  a  blanket.  I  spoke  and  touched  it.  It  moved.  I  said, 
'  Monare  !  Monare  !  '  and  I  heard,  '  Eh  !  Eh  !  '  very  small. 
Next  time  I  came  back  Setobi  said  that  Monare  was  dead. 
I  looked  in  and  saw  the  blanket.  It  moved  like  breathing. 
I  spoke  out ;  I  called  to  him.  He  answered  me  with  a  very 
weak  voice.  Next  day  I  went  and  roused  him  and  took  him 
out  to  M^ash.  Then  he  got  better.'  I  was  much  amused  at 
the  old  man's  plaintive  story.  Had  he  been  a  physician,  or 
even  a  quack,  he  would  have  known  that  a  long  heavy  sleep 
after  a  fever  is  life  and  not  death.  He  then  began  picking  my 
cheeks  and  laughing  all  over  calling  me  the  most  youthful 
names  possible.  (It  is  a  compliment  to  a  middle-aged  or  old 
man  in  this  country  to  tell  him  how  young  and  boyish  he  is.) 
In  this  case,  of  course,  he  was  complimenting  me  with  youth 
on  his  side.  I  began  gravely  to  show  him  my  grey  hairs,  but 
these  had  little  weight  with  him.  He  only  laughed  the  more 
and  declare  them  cheats  and  liars.  I  was  a  boy  !  a  boy  !  a 
boy  !  I  was  forced  at  last  to  give  in  and  let  him  have  his  own 
mind  out.  I  am  fond  of  old  Ratua  (father  of  lions),  a  brave, 
kind  and  honest,  old  man,  a  thorough  heathen,  but  I  believe 
an  enemy  to  the  secret  devil-like  deeds  of  the  magicians  and 


AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE  77 

doctors.  Most  peculiar  men  those  doctors  arc.  I  will  write 
more  of  them  when  I  learn  more,  but  I  hope  it  may  not  be 
experimental  knowledge.  I  have  had  enough  of  their  ghastly 
ways  which  are  seen  in  every  line  of  their  ghastly  demon-like 
faces. 

"  Shesheke,  Sept.  24-th,  1888. — After  a  very  tedious  journey 
I  got  here  safely  two  days  ago.  One  evening  we  were  benighted 
on  the  river.  It  became  very  dark,  and  my  men  were  anxiously 
paddling  up-stream,  when  a  hippopotamus  came  after  the  boat 
I  was  in,  grunting  fiercely  and  gnashing  his  teeth  at  us.  We 
pulled  hard  to  get  to  shallow  water,  but  the  beast  followed  us. 
I  had  no  powder  at  hand  for  my  gun.  The  men  jumped  out  ; 
bixt  being  loth  to  leave  the  boat  at  the  mercy  of  the  brute, 
I  took  my  steel  and  flint  and  struck  fire  in  his  face.  This 
stopped  him,  and  he  turned  back  to  deep  water.  The  men 
would  not  come  on  further  so  we  had  to  camp  on  the  river's 
bank. 

"  On  the  way  up  I  had  a  splendid  view  of  two  immense  lions, 
walking  up  and  down  the  white,  sandy  beach  of  the  river. 
Although  we  were  within  50  yards  or  so  of  them  they  looked 
at  us  quite  undisturbed.  Oh  !  wasn't  I  sorry  that  my  powder 
was  in  another  boat.  It  was  very  grand  to  see  them  so  near, 
the  male  lion  with  his  large  black  mane  looking  at  us  -with  his 
deep,  winking  eyes,  and  the  female  pacing  up  and  down  the 
sand  as  they  do  in  cages  at  home,  her  head  lowered  and  swing- 
ing from  side  to  side. 

"  Here  I  have  met  the  Jesuits  on  their  way  home.  The 
king  has  sent  them  back.  They,  however,  are  determined  not 
to  give  in.  The  Pope  has  given  them  the  country,  therefore 
they  must  get  a  footing  in  it.  They  say  they  will  come  back 
next  year  and  overcome  every  objection,  by  presents,  I  pre- 
sume. I  should  think  they  have  already  given  ten  to  twenty 
times  as  much  to  the  king  as  I  have,  and  yet  they  get  nothing 
for  it.  The  king  is  right  when  he  says  that  their  presents  are 
not  from  a  good  heart.    They  give  them  to  get  favour. 

"  Yesterday  afternoon  a  company  of  headmen  and  wives 
came  to  visit  me,  especially  to  see  my  photos.  Their  remarks 
were  very  amusing.  I  was  amused  at  the  comical  way  the  men 
began  chiding  the  women  for  their  ugly  looks,  big  lips,  flat 
noses,  etc.,  and  that  the  Barotse  now  would  go  to  the  white 
people  for  wives,  and  didn't  want  them  any  longer.    One  poor 


78  AMONGST  THE   BAROTSE 

woman  got  quite  beside  herself  with  rage  declaring  that  the 
white  women  were  soft  and  useless.  They  were  all  greatly- 
pleased  with  the  picture  of  the  two  wee  bodies  (Arnot's  two 
little  sisters).  They  seemed  to  think  they  were  not  children  of 
this  world. 

"  I  remained  at  Shesheke  for  some  time  as  the  guest  of 
Ratua.  A  happy  incident  occurred  which  was  helpful  to  the 
old  man.  The  king  had  commissioned  Ratua  to  buy  for  him 
a  very  expensive  greyhound,  which  Ratua  had  done,  taking 
it  with  him  to  Shesheke,  and  intending  to  send  it  on  to  the  king. 
Here  the  dog  broke  loose,  and  made  for  the  road  by  which  it 
had  come.  It  would  have  to  pass  through  a  country  infested 
■with  lions,  and,  worst  of  all,  swim  the  Ungwesi  and  Zambesi, 
in  both  of  which  crocodiles  abound,  so  that  Ratua  gave  up 
all  hope  of  ever  seeing  the  dog  again,  and  was  much  cast  dowTi. 
Shortly  before,  a  horse  in  his  care  belonging  to  the  king  had 
been  lost,  also  some  goods  ;  and  now,  if  this  dog  did  not  turn 
up,  he  might  as  well  dro%Mi  himself.  He  came  into  my  scherm 
in  great  distress.  I  tried  to  soothe  him  ;  but  he  added,  '  It  is 
no  use  ;  I  shall  never  see  the  dog  again.'  The  thought  struck 
me  that  this  was  an  opportunity  given  me  to  prove  the  power 
of  the  God  I  had  been  speaking  to  him  about  two  nights  before. 
I  prayed  silently  to  the  Lord  about  it,  and  felt  confidence  in 
telling  Ratua  that  the  dog  would  come  back.  '  No  !  No  !  ' 
said  he  ;  '  No  !  No  !  '  and  soon  went  away.  In  about  an 
hour  afterwards  the  dog  came  back.  Some  men  cutting  fire- 
wood had  met  it  and  turned  it  back.  Poor  Ratua  could  not 
find  words  to  thank  me  and  express  his  belief  in  the  reality 
of  my  God.  The  news  went  all  through  the  to\^Ti  that  the 
teacher's  God  had  sent  back  the  king's  dog.  The  dog  must 
have  been  caught  just  about  the  time  I  asked  the  Lord  for  it. 
Quite  a  lively  interest  sprung  up.  Ratua  to-night  said  that 
he  and  his  wives  wanted  me  to  have  a  large  meeting  vnth  all 
his  people  in  the  daytime  ;  they  all  wanted  much  to  hear. 
'  We  listen  to  you  praying  and  singing  at  night,'  said  he  (when 
alone  I  forget  that  the  reed  walls  of  my  house  are  so  thin  that 
every  word  spoken  is  heard  outside),  '  but  we  want  you  to 
speak  to  us  more  during  the  day.'  I  felt  like  a  horse  ready  for 
the  race  pa"sving  the  ground,  but  held  in  ^^^th  bit  and  bridle. 
Most  heartily  would  I  not  only  talk  with  them  all  day,  but 
pour   out   my    very   soul   upon   them,   but    my   little   know- 


AMONGST  THE   BAROTSE  79 

ledge  of  the  language  compels  me  to  keep  to  very  small 
companies. 

"  Already  there  is  '  a  rustling  among  the  leaves.'  A  silent 
solemnity  has  taken  the  place  among  many  at  the  mentioning 
of  the  things  of  God,  instead  of  loud  laughter  and  profane 
questioning.  You  Avill  not  fail,  dear  mother,  to  tell  all  those 
who  are  praying  for  Africa  about  the  happy  encouragement 
I  have  got  since  coming  back  again  among  the  people,  and  stir 
up  all  to  more  prayer  and  earnestness  before  God  so  that 
we  may  get  all  that  the  gracious  Lord  may  please  to  call  out 
of  this  nation,  not  a  hoof  left.  Praise  the  Lord  !  '  From  every 
nation  and  tongue  and  people.'  Oh  !  my  heart  goes  beyond 
those  tribes  to  the  tribes  upon  tribes,  nations  upon  nations, 
extending  north,  west,  east,  living  to  kill  and  be  killed,  unknown 
and  knowing  nothing.  Millions  of  our  fellow-beings  knowing 
not  that  there  is  a  God,  a  Saviour,  and  when  told  in  their  old 
age  the  precious  gospel  message  of  life,  which  was  for  all  people, 
they  marvel  at  the  fact  that  they  have  lived  so  long  without 
having  heard  it.  I  desire  that  you  make  this  one  message 
knoAvn  to  all,  mother.  The  heathen  wonder  ;  they  are  sur- 
prised ;  they  cannot  understand  how  it  is  that  those  who  have 
knowTi  these  things,  and  have  believed  in  God,  and  in  His 
Son,  have  never  come  before  to  warn  them,  and  to  tell  them 
of  the  true  God.  These  words  come  from  the  very  heart  of 
Africa,  not  the  words  of  one  man  only,  but  of  many. 

"  When  my  place  may  be  taken  up  here  my  desire  would 
be  to  push  on  north,  up  by  the  sources  of  the  Zambesi,  up  by 
Lake  Bangweolo,  and  east  and  v/est  and  south  by  the  River 
Chobe.  There  are  tribes  upon  tribes  open  and  waiting  for 
the  Gospel,  though  they  know  it  not.  You  will  perhaps  say 
that  the  last  part  of  this  is  a  bit  of  Fred's  spontaneous  zeal. 
Well  !  I  won't  contradict  you,  but  it  is  zeal  that  has  been 
tried  lately  by  a  few  practical  tests,  and  if  it  burns  up  a  bit  at 
a  time  it  doesn't  do  so  in  a  cold  grate.  I  know  your  heart  is 
with  me,  mother,  in  all  my  erratic  ways. 

"  Oct.  1st. — Left  Shesheke  this  morning  for  the  Barotse. 

"  Oct.  5th. — Started  early.  A  strong  wind  arose  and  com- 
pelled us  to  rest  an  hour  or  so.  After  I  had  urged  Molonda  to 
get  into  the  boats  and  start  again  he  replied  sagely  :  '  Don't 
you  know  that  the  river  has  no  ears  ?  There  are  three  things 
without  ears,  the  river,  the  wind  and  the  rain.    They  do  not 


80  AMONGST  THE   BAROTSE 

hear,  as  they  are  in  the  hand  of  God.  To-day,  your  own  father 
and  mother  might  be  sailing  on  the  river,  the  wind  might  rise 
and  swallow  them  up,  but  to-morrow  you  would  not  come  with 
an  assegai  to  fight  the  river,  you  would  only  drink  its 
water.  So  now  we  must  sit  still  until  the  river  and  wind  be 
quiet.'  (This  is  a  specimen  of  their  droll  way  of  talking  and 
answering.) 

"  Lealui,  Oct.  22nd. — Nothing  of  importance  occurred  during 
the  first  part  of  our  journey  up  the  river.  My  boatmen  were 
very  diligent  in  hunting,  so  that  this  time  we  were  fairly  well 
supplied  with  meat.  On  one  occasion  a  troop  of  buffaloes  were 
seen  near  the  water,  and  all  the  men  started  at  once  in  pursuit, 
whilst  I  remained  by  the  stuff,  sitting  quietly  reading  under 
my  umbrella.  In  a  short  time  I  noticed  some  curious  objects 
on  the  tops  of  the  trees,  here  and  there  an  old  shirt,  or  a  little 
piece  of  white  cloth  fluttering  in  the  breeze.  The  secret  of  this 
I  soon  discovered.  My  brave  crew  had  overtaken  the  buffaloes, 
but  after  firing  a  few  shots  they  were  attacked  by  an  infuriated 
old  bull,  who  had  compelled  them  all  to  climb  the  trees,  and 
kept  them  prisoners  there  for  some  hours.  We  were  thus 
obliged  to  sleep  at  this  place  that  night,  and  to  make  the  best 
of  our  disappointment.  A  few  days  later  my  men  organised 
another  hunt,  with  the  help  of  a  small  company  of  natives  we 
met  at  the  Nyambe  Falls.  They  succeeded  in  killing  a  large 
rhinoceros  close  by  my  camp.  This  gave  us  a  supply  of  meat 
sufficient  to  last  for  many  days,  and  we  were  enabled  to  push 
on  without  many  delays. 

"  At  one  point  I  and  my  crew  had  a  very  narrow  escape 
from  total  destruction.  We  were  pulling  along  against  a  heavy 
stream  close  to  a  high  precipitous  bank  of  heavy  soil,  when 
suddenly  the  whole  bank  gave  way,  falling  into  the  river  just 
alongside  of  our  boat,  so  that  some  of  the  men  were  thro>vn 
overboard,  and  the  boat  was  filled  with  earth  and  water.  We 
instantly  began  baling  out,  and  she  soon  righted.  Had  we 
been  a  few  feet  nearer  shore  we  should  all  have  been  buried 
alive.  The  water  under  before  the  landslip  was  very  deep, 
and  flowed  in  a  steady  even  current.  Immediately  after  the 
landslip  it  was  but  a  few  feet  in  depth,  and  the  current  was 
diverted  to  the  middle  of  the  river. 

"  Arrived  to-day  at  landing-place  for  Lealui,  and  sent  word 
to  the  king.    Next  morning  ten  of  the  king's  men  cam.e  down 


AMONGST  THE   BAROTSE  81 

with  a  horse.  They  shouted  out  many  a  hearty  welcome, 
jumping  about,  hfting  up  my  bundles,  and  running  here  and 
there.  Liwanika  received  me  very  kindl^'-,  and  gave  me  a  nice 
snug  hut  in  the  tovm,  but  said  he  was  going  to  build  me  a  large 
one  outside  the  town,  on  a  small  mound  or  hill,  a  much  better 
site  than  I  had  had  before.  After  two  days  the  king  sent  to 
mc  by  his  private  servant  eight  children  to  be  instructed  (two 
being  his  own  sons),  ranging  in  age  from  eight  to  fifteen. 

"  Lealui,  Oct.  30th. — Besides  teaching  the  boys  the  alphabet 
and  numbers,  I  read  a  little  from  the  New  Testament,  and  try 
to  explain  it  to  them.  We  get  on  famously.  How  different 
everything  is  this  year  from  last  !  My  health  could  not  be 
better  ;  the  people,  small  and  great,  are  kind  and  thoughtful, 
and  do  their  best  to  make  me  comfortable.  The  king  has  given 
me  a  present  of  a  cow  and  a  calf,  a  parrot  from  the  West  Coast, 
a  little  slave  boy  (free  now),  and  a  handsome  waterproof  coat 
brought  to  him  by  a  Portuguese. 

"  Old  Mamwia,  an  elderly  Makololo  woman,  was  very  glad 
to  see  me.  She  gave  me  some  corn,  and  kissed  my  hand  over 
and  over  again.  This  old  woman  came  into  my  hut,  shortly 
after  my  arrival  in  the  Valley,  and  sitting  down  asked  me  to 
tell  her  of  '  Jesus,  the  King  of  Galilee '  (repeating  thus,  as  I 
afterwards  learned,  the  last  line  of  an  old  Sechuana  hymn). 
I  answered  her  by  opening  the  Sechuana  New  Testament, 
translated  by  Dr.  Moffat,  and  reading  passages  that  I  knew 
she  must  have  heard  before,  had  she  been,  as  I  supposed,  in 
contact  with  the  missionaries  down  south.  Her  face  lit  up 
with  delight,  old  memories  were  awakened,  and  she  crept  for- 
ward and  kissed  my  hand.  Her  story  was  that  when  quite 
a  child  she  had  lived  on  the  Chobe  River  with  her  parents. 
A  Mission,  led  by  Dr.  Price,  brother-in-law  of  Dr.  Livingstone, 
came  to  Linyanti,  and  little  Mamwia  was  employed  by  one  of 
the  missionary  ladies.  But  the  missionaries  all  began  to  die, 
and  her  mistress  died,  and  the  rest  returned  to  the  south.  Then 
the  Barotse  came  down  and  killed  her  father  and  all  her  people, 
and  carried  her  away  to  their  distant  Valley.  Now  30  years 
had  gone  by  and  she  had  forgotten  all  that  the  missionaries 
had  taught  her  ;  but  a  love  for  the  Saviour  to  Whom  they  had 
led  her  remained.  And  now  Mamwia  was  among  the  first  to 
welcome  me  on  my  return.  It  was  her  husband,  Gumbela,  who 
took  me  before  the  king  and  all  the  Barotse  headmen,  asking 


82  AMONGST   THE  BAROTSE 

in  the  name  of  the  Barotse  that  I  might  be  better  cared  for, 
and  my  wants  supphed.  I  think  old  mother  Mamwia  put  him 
up  to  this.    Next  morning  I  got  a  fat  ox  to  kill." 

Writing  at  a  later  date,  concerning  Mamwia,  Arnot  said  : 
"  Her  husband  sent  her  away  to  his  possession  in  the  country 
and  I  heard  nothing  of  her  until  one  day  during  these  months 
of  famine.  I  had  sent  my  faithful  MaKoffee  away  to  buy 
meal,  telling  him  not  to  return  until  he  had  found  some.  The 
first  day  went  by  with  no  food  in  the  hut,  and  no  signs  of  my 
servant ;  the  second  day  wore  on  without  either  breakfast, 
dinner  or  tea  ;  but  about  ten  o'clock,  when  about  to  go  to  bed, 
a  knock  came  ;  then  a  black  head  ;  and  two  baskets  of  food 
were  pushed  in.  Mamwia  had  sent  her  slave  woman  with  a 
little  food  that  she  had  managed  to  secure  that  day  quite 
unexpectedly. 

"  I  was  much  interested  in  a  young  man  named  Simboula. 
My  own  two  servants — Setobi,  and  a  lad  the  king  gave  me 
to  work  for  me — were  very  troublesome,  and  at  times,  if  I  was 
at  all  unwell,  would  be  away  all  day.  So  this  poor  slave  would 
come  at  every  opportunity,  and  sit  beside  me,  always  cheerful 
and  willing  to  do  anything  for  his  white  '  baas.'  I  took  a  great 
liking  to  him  ;  but  he  was  sent  down  to  his  old  master  at 
Mbova.  When  I  was  there  recently  he  came  to  see  me.  I  gave 
him  2 1  j^ards  of  cloth  for  his  help  to  me  at  Lealui  when  I  greatly 
needed  it.  As  he  looked  at  me  I  had  to  turn  away  my  head, 
and  a  big  tear  rolled  down  my  cheek.  Meeting  the  poor  lad 
brought  to  my  mind  many  a  kind  act  by  night  and  by  day. 
These  cases,  with  others,  stand  out  more  brightly,  because  of 
the  general  feeling  of  utter  indifference  and  coldness  that 
reigns  in  the  hearts  of  most  of  these  heathen. 

"  Lealui,  Dec.  9th. — On  the  18th  Nov.  I  heard  of  the  illness 
of  a  Mr.  Henry  Bryden,  who  had  come  in  from  Damaraland  to 
trade  with  the  king  and  had  returned  from  here  to  his  waggons 
across  the  Chobe  for  more  goods.  On  his  way  back  to  the 
Barotse  on  foot  he  took  very  ill  out  on  the  veld,  so  I  started 
out  on  the  19th  with  a  hammock  and  men  to  bring  him  in.  I 
myself  rode  in  the  hammock.  We  crossed  the  river  in  the  morn- 
ing and  travelled  through  a  wide  flat  ^\dth  two  small  belts  of 
wood,  about  half-way  across,  where  we  rested.  In  the  after- 
noon we  reached  a  large  sand-belt,  heavily  wooded,  through 
which  our  path  lay.    We  stopped  at  a  little  town  belonging  to 


AMONGST  THE   BAROTSE  88 

one  Mesanga  on  the  face  of  the  hill.  This  old  man  is  the  great 
gunsmith  and  carpenter  of  the  natives.    We  slept  there. 

"  On  the  20th  we  started  early  and  got  through  the  long 
belt  of  wood.  The  variety  of  flowers,  and  their  rich  fragrant 
smell  were  most  refreshing.  The  grass  everywhere  had  shot 
up  after  the  early  rains,  sweet  and  green.  The  trees  were  in 
full  fresh  foliage.  A  sweet  fruit,  not  unlike  a  fig,  was  very 
plentiful.  Beautiful  birds  gleamed  and  scratched  about  so 
that  in  everything  the  wood  we  passed  through  this  morning 
was  the  perfect  ideal  of  a  forest ;  but  believe  me,  mother,  I 
would  not  have  preferred  a  hundred  walks  in  such  parts  to 
a  stroll  in  your  own  '  kail  yard.'  I  find  myself  constantly 
looking  out  for  flowers  and  plants  like  those  at  home.  If  I  can 
associate  anything  ^vith  home  it  dehghts  me. 

"  We  reached  the  town  of  Moleni  at  night.  At  this  place 
were  two  of  the  king's  horses,  so  I  rode  on  with  them  another 
day.  I  was  now  among  the  Mangetti  tribe  who  do  not  under- 
stand Sekololo.  I  fear  I  will  have  to  make  an  effort  to  learn 
Serotsi  so  that  I  may  be  able  to  reach  these  other  tribes  so 
close  at  hand  all  round  about.  Here  I  sent  the  boys  on  before 
to  bring  Bryden  to  me  as  the  horses  could  not  go  further  for 
the  tsetse  fly.  In  four  days  he  became  very  ill  indeed.  I  was 
able  to  help  him  with  medicines,  food,  etc. 

"  Got  back  on  the  28th  to  find  the  people  collecting  for  a 
war  with  a  tribe  to  the  west.  They  are  always  fighting  here, 
or  going  to  fight. 

"  I  hear  from  Blockley  that  the  Jesuits  are  going  to  make 
a  great  effort  next  year  to  settle  here.  Two  more  waggon  loads 
are  coming  for  the  Barotse  Mission.  The  king  told  Blockley 
that  he  is  determined  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  them  on  any 
account.  '  Monare  '  (otherA\ise  F.  S.  A.),  he  says,  '  is  my  man, 
and  he  is  quite  enough.  He  comes  to  me  and  is  not  afraid  to 
speak.  He  is  young  yet,  but  wait,  that  will  be  a  man.'  Perhaps 
what  he  considers  courage  and  manUness  in  me  others  might 
take  for  impudence  and  rashness,  with  truth  on  their  side. 

"  A  great  many  men  have  been  killed  here  lately,  big  men 
as  well  as  slaves,  for  the  most  absurd  reasons  and  superstitions. 
The  saddest  thing  in  connection  Avith  my  school  is  that  most 
of  the  boys  who  come  are  under  a  secret  sentence  of  death. 
The  poor  boys  themselves  know  it,  but  make  as  hght  of  it  as 
possible.    One  is  the  son  of  Sepopo,  a  former  king  killed  by  his 


84  AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE 

people  here  ;  two  sons  of  Wanawana,  a  later  king  also  killed  ; 
and  two  sons  of  the  present  king.  It  is  considered  by  the  nation 
that  it  is  not  safe  for  these  boys  to  live,  so  they  will  be  speared 
when  they  reach  young  manhood.  I  mean  to  set  myself  to 
save  the  lives  of  these  boys  if^I  can. 

"  It  would  greatly  amuse  you  if  I  told  you  all  the  tricks 
and  plans  the  people  have  tried  here  to  get  me  married.  Here 
there  is  a  law  that  men  must  marry  at  a  certain  age,  and  the 
king  and  some  of  the  headmen  think  it  a  very  bad  example 
that  I  should  remain  unmarried,  unless  it  was  a  part  of  my 
religion  like  the  Jesuits.  I  assured  them,  of  course,  that  it 
was  no  part  of  my  religion.  Well  !  the  conclusion,  on  their 
part,  was  that  I  would  have  to  marry.  So  the  king  appointed 
me  my  wife,  a  daughter  of  his  eldest  sister,  without  ever  con- 
sulting me.  And  I  was  invited  to  a  feast  where  all  the  king's 
female  relations,  and  the  friends  of  the  damsel,  were  assembled. 
I  went  in  perfect  ignorance  of  what  was  to  happen.  The  king's 
sister  presented  me  with  a  pot  of  mead,  and  then  introduced 
me  to  her  daughter  as  my  'wife.  I  was  thunderstruck,  and 
began  to  boil  ^^dth  indignation,  and  to  demand  their  meaning. 
By  acting  in  such  a  way  they  were  making  an  entire  mistake. 
The  king,  I  suppose,  could  not  miderstand  my  refusing  his 
handsome  gift  of  a  princess,  rich  in  cattle,  slaves  and  gardens. 
I  explained  to  him  quietly  not  to  trouble  me  again  with  marry- 
ing. When  I  wanted  to  marry  I  would  get  a  wife  of  my  own 
nation  who  would  be  able  to  speak  with  and  teach  his  women. 
This  pleased  him.  '  That  will  do,'  he  said.  '  You  must  bring 
her  the  next  time  you  go  home  and  I  will  be  satisfied.'  I 
promised  him  in  a  sort  of  '  I'll  ask  Mamma  '  way. 

"  Some  of  the  older  women  here  are  very  motherly  and  kind. 
With  them  I  have  long  talks.  But  with  the  mass  of  the  women 
and  the  girls  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  reach  them  ^\^th  the 
Gospel.  They  are  not  allowed  to  sit  with  the  men  in  a  promis- 
cuous audience  as  at  home.  They  are  very  shy  of  strangers, 
and  very  silly  and  stupid  too.  More  silly  creatures  than  some 
of  these  women  are  I  have  never  seen,  but  they  seem  to  be 
tender-hearted  and  impressionable.  At  home  one  hears  a 
great  deal  about  the  hard  work  the  womicn  have  in  savage 
countries,  but  I  do  not  see  it  here.  The  men  in  the  first  place 
have  a  good  deal  to  do.  They  lay  out  the  gardens,  clear  the 
wood,  clear  the  grass,  are  regularly  out  hunting,  tend  the  oxen, 


AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE  85 

milk  the  cows,  prepare  skins  for  themselves,  their  wives  and 
their  children.  These  latter  (the  skins)  they  have  to  preserve, 
soften  (a  long  process),  and  then  scav  together  so  as  to  form 
different  garments.  They  sew  so  very  neatly  with  sinew  that 
it  takes  a  whole  day  to  sew  a  seam  a  yard  long.  Then  every 
year  a  commando  of  men  is  out  fighting,  and  in  this  they  all 
take  their  turn.  They  do  not  do  much  building.  They  bring 
the  poles,  however,  for  their  houses  and  set  them,  whilst  the 
women  do  the  reed  and  grass  work  and  put  the  mud  on  the 
sides  of  the  houses.  The  women  also  do  the  cooking,  hoe  and 
clean  the  gardens,  and  reap  the  crops.  But  the  hoeing  is  the 
mere  scratching  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  ;  nature  is  so  rich 
they  have  but  '  to  tickle  her,  and  she  smiles  into  a  harvest.' 
They  have  far  too  much  time  on  hand  for  quarrelling  and 
making  rows.  I  for  one  am  glad  when  hoeing  time  comes  and 
the  women  clear  out  of  town  to  their  gardens.  The  attention 
they  give  to  their  families  does  not  occupy  one  half-hour  in  the 
twenty-four.  The  children  have  simply  to  sleep  where  and  as 
they  like,  most  often  with  the  dogs  round  the  fire.  Their  food 
they  get  into  their  two  outstretched  hands.  But  in  time  of 
want  the  children  fare  badly,  and  fight  for  bones  vnth  the  dogs, 
and  dig  up  roots  with  their  sticks.  They  are  wonderfully  hardy. 
I  have  seen  little  boys  sleeping  out  at  nights  in  the  cold  and 
drenching  rain,  without  a  stitch  of  covering,  and  yet  without 
any  harm,  night  after  night. 

"  Lealui,  Jan.  1st,  1884. — Had  a  long  talk  with  the  king  this 
evening  about  the  stars  and  the  sun.  He  then  wanted  to  know 
where  God  dwelt,  and  what  He  did  with  man  when  dead. 
I  answered  that  God  was  not  confined  to  one  place,  as  we  are  ; 
that  when  man's  body  died,  the  spirit  of  him  who  was  a  child 
of  God  went  above  and  dwelt  for  ever  in  the  presence  of  God, 
and  those  whom  God  knew  not  here  in  this  life  were  cast  into 
a  place  of  sorrow  and  burning.  '  But  v/hy  does  God  do  so  ?  ' 
he  asked.  '  What  reason  has  He  for  putting  man  from  Him  ?  ' 
I  explained  to  him  something  of  the  righteousness  of  God  ;  that 
He  could  in  no  wise  clear  the  guilty.  The  king  argued  that 
here  they  did  not  know  God's  laws  ;  how  then  could  God 
punish  them  for  not  keeping  them  ?  I  answered  that  God 
having  planted  His  law  in  their  hearts,  they  all  knew  what  was 
right  and  what  was  wrong.  '  You  know,'  said  I,  '  when  a  man 
lies  to  your  face  and  steals  from  you  that  he  injures  you,  and 


86  AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE 

you  call  him  bad  and  wicked.  So  when  you  to-morrow  do  the 
same  thing,  God  judges  you  with  the  same  judgment  with 
which  you  judged  j^our  fellow-creature  yesterday.'  His  only 
answer  was,  *  Yes  !  that  is  true  ;  that  I  understand.'  Presently 
he  muttered  something  about  the  hardness  of  man's  lot,  and 
I  tried  to  explain  God's  love  to  him  in  the  gift  of  His  Son  ;  and 
after  listening  for  a  little  he  suddenly  bustled  away,  saying,  like 
Felix,  '  Well  !  well  !  I  will  call  you  again  to  speak  about  this 
matter.' 

"  Jan.  4:th. — War  is  the  great  employment  here  at  present. 
One  impi  has  just  come  in  with  long  strings  of  captives — poor 
naked  women  and  children.  The  man  who  can  show  by  the 
pieces  of  skin  from  the  bodies  of  his  victims  that  he  has  killed 
many  is  danced  round  by  the  women  as  a  great  hero. 

"  9/^. — The  king  seems  more  afraid  of  the  Word  of  God 
since  our  last  talk,  as  he  is  little  inclined  to  speak  again  on 
the  subject. 

"  IMh. — Candle  making  to-day,  with  beeswax  and  ox  fat. 

"  16f/j.— Washing  day. 

"  20th. — DoANTi  with  severe  headaches  ;  no  sleep  night  or 
day.  Silva  Porto,  the  Portuguese  traveller,  arrived  here  a 
few  days  ago.  He  has  come  to  trade  with  Liwanika  for  ivory, 
and  has  brought  M-ith  him  a  large  quantity  of  calico,  guns  and 
powder.  He  is  most  urgent  that  I  should  return  with  him  to 
Bihe.  From  him  I  heard  of  the  many  tribes  occupying  West 
Central  Africa  with  which  he,  as  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  West 
Coast  traders,  had  come  in  contact.  This  remarkable  old 
man  landed  at  St.  Paul  de  Loando  as  the  guns  from  the  fort 
were  booming  in  honour  of  Queen  Victoria's  coronation.  He 
was  the  first  European  to  visit  the  Barotse  Valley,  and  letters 
from  him  were  carried  by  his  men  overland  to  the  Portuguese 
Governor  of  IMozambique.  He  had  no  compunction  in  telling 
me  that  in  those  early  days  he  bought  many  slaves,  but  that 
now  he  Avas  gradually  giving  them  all  their  papers  of  freedom, 
and  that  although  still  a  trader  he  was  a  missionary  like  my- 
self !  Telling  me  of  a  visit  he  paid  to  a  cannibal  tribe  doA\Ti  the 
Kassai,  he  said  he  was  so  shocked  wth  what  he  saw  that  he 
returned  to  them  the  year  after  with  a  quantity  of  salt  blessed 
by  a  priest,  and  making  the  people  come  to  him  at  every 
stopping  place,  he  placed  '  holy  salt '  on  their  tongues,  charging 
them  never  again  to  eat  human  flesh. 


AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE  87 

"  26^^. — Two  men  were  tried  for  witchcraft  in  front  of  my 
yard  this  morning.  They  went  through  the  customary  ordeal, 
dipping  their  hands  into  the  boiHng  water  as  coolly  as  possible  ; 
for  these  brutal  trials  are  so  common  that  even  the  victims 
show  but  little  concern.  In  the  evening  both  were  brought  out 
of  their  prison  hut,  and  being  found  badly  scalded,  were 
considered  guilty  and  condemned  to  the  flames. 

"  27th. — The  two  men  were  burnt  this  morning.  I  asked  the 
king  and  his  people  to  come  to  my  yard  and  hear  the  Gospel, 
but  he  seemed  annoyed  at  this  public  invitation,  and  said  I 
must  be  content  with  the  children  ;  nor  would  he  allow  me 
to  speak  to  him  there,  saying  that  the  big  people  did  not  want 
to  learn  these  things. 

"  29th. — Headaches  very  bad.  I  fall  into  fits  of  stupor, 
probably  owing  to  the  great  heat,  with  little  rain. 

"  Feb.  6th. — Much  better  ;  have  been  keeping  indoors  more 
during  the  day,  and  am  getting  on  well  with  the  Testament 
and  a  dictionary  of  Sekololo  and  Serotsi  (the  languages  of  the 
Makololo  and  the  Barotse). 

"  The  heat  so  affects  everything  that  the  people  of  the 
town  are  either  asleep  or  lazily  lying  about,  drinking  thin  beer. 
Not  even  a  dog  is  seen.  The  oxen  out  in  the  plain  try  to  stand 
or  lie  in  each  other's  shadow,  caring  little  for  the  rich  long  grass 
all  round  ;  the  king's  horses  get  into  the  shade  of  some  hut, 
and  their  heads  hang  wearily  between  their  knees  ;  scarcely 
a  bird  flutters,  and  the  smoke  from  the  little  fire  at  which  the 
boys  are  cooking  my  dinner  ascends  slowly  in  an  even  column 
through  the  hot  air.  Such  days  are  generally  followed  by  a 
tremendous  thunderstorm,  lightning  without  intermission,  and 
startUng  crashes  of  thunder,  far  on  into  the  night.  During  a 
severe  thunderstorm  the  natives  do  not  eat,  drink  or  work. 

"  12th. — The  valley  is  now  flooded  ;  one  cannot  go  a  few 
yards  from  the  door  without  a  boat. 

"  20th. — The  king  and  the  people  of  the  to^vn,  my  scholars 
included,  have  gone  on  a  grand  deer  hunt,  so  I  am  left  alone, 
with  only  a  few  women  and  slaves  in  the  town.  I  have  taken 
advantage  of  this  quietness  to  begin  chair  making  and  sewing, 
and  to  clean  my  gun  for  some  duck  and  goose  shooting,  my  only 
hope  of  getting  some  meat  during  the  king's  absence.  The 
slaves  of  the  town  got  up  a  fight  in  their  masters'  absence,  and 
two  men  were  brought  to  me  to  have  their  wounds  stanched 


88  AMONGST  THE   BAROTSE 

and  bound  up.  The  one  had  a  knife  stab,  the  other's  head  and 
face  had  been  laid  open  ^\^th  an  axe. 

"  22?? d. — Last  night  an  attempt  was  made  to  break  into  my 
house.  To-day  the  king's  head  servant  sent  round  the  town 
crier,  threatening  -mth  death  any  who  should  attempt  to  steal 
from  me. 

"  March  Hth. — Have  had  a  run  of  quartan  ague  all  this 
month.  Hearing  that  Senhor  Porto  was  laid  up,  I  borrowed 
a  boat  and  went  across  the  Valley,  and  found  him  very  ill  indeed 
with  ophthalmia. 

"  29th. — News  has  come  up  the  river  to  the  effect  that  a 
waggon  has  just  arrived  from  Shoshong.  M.  Coillard  has  sent 
a  blanket  to  the  king  with  a  few  lines  from  Basutoland,  dated 
April,  1882,  to  say  that  he  was  coming  on.  The  Father-Superior 
of  the  Jesuits  has  also  sent  a  letter  and  a  blanket  to  the  king. 
They  are  very  energetic  and  determined  to  succeed. 

"  Lord's  Day,  March  30th. — Had  very  few  at  my  house  this 
morning,  but  a  large  company  at  the  afternoon  meeting,  which 
lasted  from  three  o'clock  until  sunset.  Sitting  in  a  draught  I 
got  a  chill,  and  spent  most  of  the  night  in  passing  through  the 
three  stages  of  ague. 

"  April  9th. — Found  Senhor  Porto  better,  but  he  has  lost 
the  sight  of  one  eye. 

"  lOth. — The  king  returned  from  his  hunt  and  held  a  grand 
reception  in  the  kotla,  sitting  in  state  in  his  chair  under  a  big 
Ashanti  umbrella.  The  people  greeted  their  chief  by  kneeling 
in  front  of  him  and  rolling  their  heads  in  the  dust. 

"  17th. — There  has  been  quite  a  plague  of  serpents  here 
lately.  Within  the  last  few  days  I  and  my  boys  killed  two  in 
the  house  and  three  in  the  yard.  While  bathing  near  my  house 
I  saw  three  serpents  hanging  from  the  reeds  above  my  head, 
and  the  same  day,  when  landing  from  a  boat,  the  boy  in  front 
sprang  back  in  terror  as  he  pointed  out  two  black  cobras  coiled 
in  the  grass  in  front  of  us.  One  big  yellow  snake  had  been 
sharing  my  bed  for  I  do  not  know  how  long. 

"  I8th. — Senhor  Porto's  man  came  to  ask  whether  I  would 
go  or  not,  but  to  this  I  really  cannot  say  '  Yes  !  '  or  '  No  !  ' 
My  eyes  have  been  failing,  and  threaten  as  they  did  last  year. 
My  goods  are  gone,  or  nearly  so.  Strange  rumours  are  afloat, 
and  strange  things  have  been  going  on  since  the  king's  return. 
I  fear  it  is  the  beginning  of  another  civil  war. 


AMONGST   THE   BAROTSE  89 

"  A  poor  old  woman  who  has  always  been  kind  to  me  was 
burnt  this  morning  as  a  witch.  She  was  suspected  of  putting  a 
crocodile's  tooth  amongst  the  king's  corn  in  order  to  bewitch 
him,  and  having  been  tried  by  the  boiling-pot  test  was  con- 
demned. I  believe  it  was  a  trick  of  some  spiteful  rascals  who 
were  her  servants,  and  had  prepared  corn  for  the  king,  for  they 
brought  the  tooth  to  one  of  the  king's  head  servants. 

"  19th. — Another  old  man  tested  by  the  boiling  pot  to-day  ; 
he  was  supposed  to  have  betwitched  the  king's  brother,  who, 
though  a  young  man,  is  so  fat  that  walking  is  a  difficulty  to 
him  ;  imagining  that  his  fat  was  leaving  him  he  decided  that 
this  old  man  must  be  the  wizard. 

"  20^/?. — The  old  man  has,  strange  to  say,  come  out  of  the 
trial  uninjured.  I  saw  him  twice  dip  his  hands  into  boiling 
water,  allowing  the  water  to  run  over  his  wrists  as  he  lifted 
his  hands  out,  and  yet  to-day  his  skin  seems  quite  natural. 
The  only  cavise  for  this,  that  I  can  think  of,  is  that  he  is  nearly 
a  century  old,  and  his  hands  are  as  tough  as  tough  can  be. 
This  was  flourished  before  me  as  a  great  victory,  achieved 
under  my  very  eyes,  in  favour  of  the  boiling-pot  trials.  The 
advocates  for  this  piece  of  barbarism  declare  that  if  the  hands 
of  an  infant  Avho  knew  nothing  of  witchcraft  were  placed  in 
boiling  water  not  a  particle  of  skin  would  come  off.  They 
delight  in  the  practice  because  by  it  the  rich  can  get  rid  of  their 
poorer  enemies  without  staining  their  own  hands  with  the  poor 
man's  blood." 


CHAPTER  VII 


MORE    ABOUT    THE    BAROTSE 


"  *  I  ^HE  Barotse  are  a  very  strange  nation.  Their  country 
I  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Zambesi  and  the 
Chobe  Rivers ;  and  this  hne  of  demarcation  is  strictly 
guarded  against  all  comers.  No  white  man  is  allowed  on  any 
condition  to  hunt  or  to  travel  across  that  border.  The  headmen 
of  the  country  expressed  themselves  pleased  that  I  had  come 
along ;  and  several  times  when  I  spoke  to  the  king  about  bring- 
ing a  brother  back  with  me  the  next  time  I  went  south,  he 
objected,  and  said  neither  he  nor  his  people  wanted  white  men 
in  their  country.  At  last,  however,  he  said  of  his  own  accord, 
'  Bring  your  brother  with  you  when  you  return  that  I  may  see 
him.' 

"  Covetousness  is  the  ruling  passion  of  these  natives,  and  it 
destroys  all  other  natural  feelings.  Here  a  man  will  kill  another 
for  his  coat.  Seeing  a  defenceless  party  with,  as  they  think, 
more  of  this  world's  goods  than  their  share,  they  will  try  every 
means  to  distress,  rob,  or  even  kill  them,  for  the  sake  of  their 
goods.  This  was  one  cause  of  the  failure  of  the  L.M.S.  Mission, 
sent  to  the  Zambesi  15  or  20  years  ago  at  the  advice  of  Living- 
stone. The  things  they  took  with  them  were  many  and  good, 
and  very  tempting  in  the  eyes  of  the  natives  ;  so  they  tried 
every  means  to  dispose  of  the  missionaries,  and  succeeded  too 
well.  This  is  one  great  cause  of  the  present  failure  of  the  Jesuits. 
One '  father '  was  undoubtedly  poisoned  for  the  sake  of  a  waggon- 
load  of  goods  of  which  he  was  in  charge,  and  the  party  was 
openly  robbed  at  different  places  to  the  amount  of  many 
hundred  pounds.  Now,  as  the  people  think  they  have  obtained 
all  they  are  likely  to  get,  they  are  bent  on  getting  the  priests 
out  of  the  country  as  soon  as  possible. 

"  I  proved  this  power  of  avarice  over  other  feelings  to  a 
small  extent  myself.  When  I  first  went  to  the  king's  town,  I 
had,  of  course,  a  few  things  on  hand  for  buying  food,  etc.    So 

90 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  BAROTSE    91 

long  as  I  had  even  a  little  I  was  very  much  troubled  by  people 
coming  to  me  simply  to  beg  for  presents,  headmen  and  their 
wives  ;  even  the  king  and  his  wives  were  not  above  begging  and 
troubling  me  in  the  meanest  way  for  a  small  present.  At  last 
my  things  were  gone,  and  I  had  to  live,  as  my  boys  lived,  on 
porridge  and  corn  ;  and  I  could  only  buy  a  meal  at  a  time, 
tearing  up  my  blankets  and  sheets,  selling  them  for  food,  and 
also  my  spare  clothes,  etc.  Then  the  begging  and  the  pestering 
ceased ;  and  those  who  came  to  my  hut  did  not  come  to  beg 
and  peer  into  every  corner  to  see  if  I  had  an5'"thing  nice  that 
they  could  ask  of  me.  Before,  when  I  used  to  try  and  get  their 
attention  in  conversation,  every  now  and  then  I  would  be  in- 
geniously interrupted  by  the  one  miserable  request ;  but  when 
they  found  me  as  poor  as  themselves,  if  not  much  poorer,  they 
came  to  talk,  and  perhaps  would  rather  bring  me  a  small  present 
than  ask  for  one,  and  I  could  get  their  ears  and  attention  with- 
out distraction.  This  world's  goods  may  certainly  be  helpful 
in  furthering  the  Gospel,  and  may  be  sanctified  and  accepted 
by  God  for  that  work,  but  they  also  can  be  made  a  terrible 
hindrance.  My  plan  now  is  to  live  as  much  from  hand  to  mouth 
as  possible,  taking  up  the  river  only  as  many  goods  as  will 
keep  me  for  four  or  five  months,  sending  down  once  or  twice 
in  the  course  of  a  year  to  Mr.  Westbeech's  station  for  fresh 
supplies,  and  living  on  native  food,  which  I  hope  daily  to 
become  more  accustomed  to. 

"  It  was  well  for  the  lame  man  sitting  at  the  gate  of  the 
temple  that  Peter  had  neither  silver  nor  gold ;  so  surely  it  is 
well  for  these  Africans  that  he  who  seeks  to  bring  to  them  the 
one  priceless  treasure  should  not  be  burdened  with  what,  in 
comparison,  is  trash  and  tinsel,  serving  but  to  blind  their  eyes 
to  better  and  heavenly  things.  Many  in  South  Africa  urge  the 
necessity  for  the  missionary's  going  to  the  raw  African  tribes 
in  the  guise  of  a  great  man  with  a  large  retinue  of  servants  and 
abundance  of  goods.  Then,  I  have  been  told,  he  gets  a  position 
in  the  tribe,  and  his  voice  is  listened  to.  But  surely  this  is  a 
fatal  mistake,  and  far  from  the  Divine  pattern.  In  such  a  case 
the  heathen  may  easily  be  brought  to  believe  in  the  man  and  his 
goods,  and,  in  the  hope  of  improving  his  social  position,  may 
make  a  profession  of  Christianity  without  having  seen  or 
kno^^'n  anything  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus. 

"  The  African  is  loth  to  obey,  but  fond  of  imitating.    The 


92  MORE   ABOUT   THE  BAROTSE 

sum  of  their  own  native  belief  is,  that  according  to  the  position 
a  man  has  in  this  Hfe  so  will  his  place  be  in  the  next.  Goodness 
or  badness,  righteousness  or  sin,  are  not  in  their  creeds.  If 
a  man  dies  a  slave  he  will  have  a  position  akin  to  that  when  he 
is  dead  ;  if  one  dies  a  chief  he  remains  a  chief,  and  so  on.  Thus 
the  more  a  missionary  seeks  to  attain  and  keep  up  a  position 
of  power  and  greatness  the  more  does  he  confirm  those  who 
follow  him  in  retaining  their  old  heathen  delusion.  When  I 
tried  to  explain  to  King  Liwanika  that  a  man's  position  in  this 
world  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  his  place  in  the  next, 
that  God  dealt  with  the  hearts  of  men  and  not  with  their  skins, 
that  a  poor  '  matlanka  '  (lowest  slave)  might  be  seated  in  the 
palace  of  God,  and  a  king  or  a  chief  shut  out  he  got  very  excited 
and  forbade  me  ever  to  say  such  a  thing  again  or  ever  to  teach 
such  things  to  his  people.  I  told  him  not  to  be  angry  with  me 
as  these  were  not  my  words  but  God's.  He  didn't  care  ;  I 
might  say  so,  but  he  and  his  fathers  kncAv  enough  of  God, 
and  of  dying,  and  all  that.  '  Besides,'  said  he,  '  we  are  not 
all  going  to  die  just  now  ;  why  then  speak  about  it  ?  '  It  was 
some  time  before  he  again  came  round  to  talk  quietly  of  the 
things  which,  though  he  little  knows  it,  concern  him  so  much. 

' '  The  native's  pride  of  position  is  consummate,  and  for  a  chief 
or  a  free  man  to  come  down  to  the  level  of  a  poor  '  matlanka ' 
sinner  is  humanly  impossible.  '  Unto  the  poor  the  Gospel  is 
preached,'  and  most  gladly  would  I  give  all  my  time  among  the 
many  poor  slaves  of  this  country ;  but  meanwhile  I  am  not 
allowed.  '  Those  are  not  my  people,'  the}''  say  ;  '  they  are  our 
dogs.'    So  it  is  only  by  stealth  that  I  get  amongst  them. 

"  I  have  great  hope  that  blessing  awaits  the  declaring  of  the 
Gospel  up  this  river  ;  but  one  thing  I  desire  is  that  what  may  be 
done  may  be  very  real  and  entirely  of  God.  Let  us  go  in  for 
real  out-and-out  conversions  to  God  as  among  the  Thessalon- 
ians  of  old,  who  '  received  the  Word  in  much  affliction,'  so  that 
God's  name  may  be  honoured  in  this  country  as  it  was  in 
Macedonia. 

"  My  one  desire  is  that  I  may  please  God  by  making  His 
Gospel  known  in  all  faithfulness  and  sincerity,  so  that  His  name 
may  be  glorified  by  the  gathering  out  from  heathendom  of 
those  whom  He  may  please  to  make  the  subjects  of  His  sove- 
reign mercy.  I  rejoice  to  think  that  for  the  people  we  have  a 
full  and  complete  salvation  to  carry  to  everyone,  but  Godward 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  BAROTSE    93 

we  can  but  cast  poor,  sinful  man  upon  His  sovereign  grace  and 
mercy.  There  has  been  Httle  to  try  me  here  in  the  work,  but 
much  to  encourage.  I  am  thankful  to  say  that  I  have  received 
much  of  the  confidence  of  the  people ;  they  trust  me  now  as 
they  did  not  at  first.  During  my  stay  at  the  king's  town  my 
time  was  well  occupied.  Besides  having  a  small  day  school  and 
spending  time  with  the  people  in  conversation  on  the  things 
of  God,  I  was  much  occupied  with  doctoring,  gun  mending, 
teaching  them  how  to  sew,  and  to  make  shirts,  etc.  In  the 
doctoring  line  I  was  several  times  very  successful,  even  in 
important  cases  which  had  been  given  up  by  the  native  magi- 
cians or  doctors.  The  king  Liwanika  himself  had  been  long 
ill,  though  he  had  been  working  away  with  all  his  doctors  ; 
he  recovered  slightly,  only  to  relapse  again.  One  of  his  head- 
men, who  has  the  honorary  title  of  '  The  king's  mat,'  asked  me 
to  go  and  see  his  majesty.  I  said  I  did  not  think  I  could  do 
much  for  him,  but,  if  I  could  not,  God  could.  I  told  him  to  go 
back  to  the  king  and  that  I  would  follow,  which  I  did,  earnestly 
asking  for  the  Lord's  blessing  upon  the  remedy.  The  next 
morning  the  king  w^as  able  to  attend  a  large  council  meeting 
and  to  all  appearance  looked  quite  well.  Several  of  the  head- 
men came  to  congratulate  me  on  my  cure  ;  but  when  I  told 
them  it  was  God  and  not  man  who  had  restored  the  king's 
health,  they  gravely  shook  their  heads. 

"  Nothing  of  importance  can  be  sanctified  without  a  human 
sacrifice — in  most  cases  a  child.  First  the  fingers  and  toes  are 
cut  off,  and  the  blood  is  sprinkled  on  the  boat,  drum,  house, 
or  whatever  may  be  the  object  in  view.  The  victim  is  then 
killed,  ripped  up,  and  thrown  into  the  river.  The  burning  of 
men  for  witchcraft  is  carried  on  to  a  fearful  extent ;  not  a  day 
passes  but  someone  is  tried  and  burnt.  The  details  of  scenes 
which  I  have  been  forced  to  witness  in  this  line  are  too  hor- 
rible to  put  on  paper ;  many  a  guiltless  victim  is  marched  off 
to  the  horrid  pile.  A  few  hundred  yards  from  my  hut  there 
lies  a  perfect  Golgotha  of  skulls  and  human  bones,  fearful  to 
look  upon.  Yet  one  gets  somehow  used  to  it  and  to  all  their 
murdering  ways. 

"  The  trial  for  witchcraft  is  short  and  decisive.  K  one  man 
suspects  another  of  having  bewitched  him — in  fact,  if  he  has  a 
grudge  against  him — he  brings  him  before  the  council,  and  the 
ordeal  of  the  boiling  pot,  to  which  I  have  already  referred,  is 


94    MORE  ABOUT  THE  BAROTSE 

resorted  to.  My  proposal  is,  that  if  they  consider  it  a  fair  trial 
of  whiteness  or  blackness  of  heart,  as  they  call  it,  then  let 
both  the  accuser  and  the  accused  put  their  hands  into  the 
boiling  water.  The  king  is  strongly  in  favour  of  this  proposal, 
and  Avould  try  any  means  to  stop  this  fearful  system  of  murder, 
which  is  thinning  out  many  of  his  best  men,  but  the  nation  is 
so  strongly  in  favour  of  the  practice  that  he  can  do  nothing. 
An  old  friend  of  mine,  called  Wizini,  who  took  quite  a  fatherly 
care  and  interest  in  me  for  some  peculiar  reason  of  his  own,  was 
charged  with  witchcraft.  He  pleaded  earnestly  to  be  spared 
the  terrible  trial,  and  was  reprieved  because  of  his  years,  but 
banished  from  his  people  and  country  for  life,  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  a  neighbour  had  an  ill-feeling  against  him. 
Had  he  been  first  to  the  king  with  his  complaint  he  might  have 
got  his  neighbour  burnt  or  banished  instead  of  himself.  I  much 
missed  this  old  man. 

"  The  manners  and  customs  of  the  negro  '  pure  and  simple  ' 
of  the  interior  remind  one  of  many  things  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture. The  Barotse  have  such  names  as  '  Cliild  of  Sorrow,' 
'  Child  of  Joy,'  '  Born  by  the  River,'  and  others,  suggested  by 
events  occuring  at  birth.  When  a  man  of  property  dies,  leaving 
no  children,  his  nearest  kinsman  takes  his  brother's  wives  ;  and 
children  born  of  them  inherit  the  dead  man's  property.  This 
custom,  however,  is  dying  out.  In  2  Kings  ii.  11  it  is  said  of 
Elisha  that  it  was  he  who  poured  water  on  the  hands  of  Elijah. 
On  the  return  of  a  man  to  his  town  or  house  a  servant  regularly 
waits  with  a  vessel  to  pour  water  on  his  hands.  The  average 
negro  is  the  reverse  of  cleanly,  but  there  are  many  laws  and 
customs  among  them  as  to  cleansing.  The  better  class  negro 
washes  his  hands  regularly  before  and  after  meals,  but  this  is 
because  he  eats  with  his  fingers.  He  may  use  a  spoon  with  tliin 
porridge  or  thick  milk,  but  only  to  ladle  the  food  into  the  palm 
of  his  hand,  from  which  he  drops  it  into  his  mouth.  Houses 
defiled  by  dead  bodies  must  be  cleansed,  and  a  woman  who 
needs  cleansing  must  live  so  many  days  outside  the  to^Mi,  after 
which  she  is  washed  with  water,  anointed  with  oil  and  perfume, 
the  inner  fat  of  an  ox  is  hung  round  her  neck  by  her  husband, 
and  then  she  returns  home.  Circumcision  is  very  generally 
practised  by  different  tribes,  and  in  different  ways. 

"  The  native  manner  of  speech  is  very  quaint,  and  the  mere 
expectation  of  good  things  causes  such  delight  that  men  \vi\\ 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  BAROTSE    95 

dance  and  shout  nil  night  with  empty  stomachs  in  prospect 
of  a  feast  on  the  morrow.  Regard  for  decency  in  conversation 
is  utterly  unknown.  There  is  a  city  of  refuge  among  the  Barotsc, 
and  anyone  incurring  the  king's  wrath,  or  committing  a  crime, 
may  find  safety  by  fleeing  to  this  town.  The  man  in  charge  of 
it  is  expected  to  plead  for  him  before  the  chief,  and  he  can  then 
return  to  his  house  in  peace. 

"  The  African  native,  as  found  in  his  own  home,  is,  like  our- 
selves, a  man  with  all  the  instincts  of  a  man,  and  this  is  shown 
by  the  conduct  of  the  lowest  slaves.  A  poor  slave,  whom  I  saw 
kicked  out  of  a  hut  in  which  he  had  sought  shelter,  folded  his 
arms  and  calmly  said,  'Yes,  master,  I  know  you  think  me  to 
be  a  dog,  but,  sir,  I  am  not  a  dog,  I  am  a  man.'  There  was,  for 
the  moment,  a  dignity  and  impressiveness  about  the  poor  naked 
fellow, which  suVjdued  the  man  who  was  abusing  him,  and  he 
was  told  to  return  to  the  hut. 

"  Many  good  laws  as  to  constancy  and  fidelity  are  to  be  found 
among  these  people,  but  their  innate  cruelty  is,  I  think,  with- 
out comparison  and  makes  war  a  terrible  thing  with  them.  On 
returning  from  raiding,  the  warrior  exults  in  telling  the  horrible 
cruelties  he  has  committed.  A  man  will  woo  a  woman  with 
accounts  of  the  devilry  he  has  been  guilty  of,  for  the  women 
delight  in  it,  and  the  remembrance  of  things  I  have  seen  done 
to  captives  makes  the  blood  riui  cold.  Among  the  Mashuku- 
lumbe  the  women  and  children  turn  out  to  applaud  their  brave 
warriors,  who,  I  am  told,  string  up  by  the  neck,  to  tall  trees, 
the  little  children  they  have  taken  captive,  a  spectacle  which 
gives  entertainment  to  the  whole  countryside.  Their  punish- 
ments are  very  cruel.  Burning  alive  is,  among  the  Barotsc, 
a  common  occurrence  ;  also  tying  the  victim  hand  and  foot  and 
laying  him  near  a  nest  of  black  ants,  which  in  a  few  days  pick 
his  bones  clean. 

"  When  manners  and  customs  are  referred  to  the  particular 
district  must  be  born  in  mind.  Africa  is  an  immense  continent, 
and  there  is  as  much  variety  in  the  customs  of  the  different 
tribes  as  in  their  languages.  Certain  tribes  take  delight  in 
cruelty  and  bloodshed  ;  others  have  a  religious  fear  of  shedding 
human  blood,  and  treat  aged  people  with  every  kindness  to 
secure  their  goodwill  after  death.  By  other  tribes  the  aged 
would  be  cast  out  as  mere  food  for  wild  animals. 

"  There  is  an  old  but  waning  belief  that  a  chief  is  a  demi-god, 


96    MORE  ABOUT  THE  BAROTSE 

and  in  heavy  thunderstorms  the  Baroste  flock  to  the  chief's 
yard  for  protection  from  the  hghtning.  I  have  been  greatly 
distressed  at  seeing  them  fall  on  their  knees  before  the  chief, 
entreating  him  to  open  the  water-pots  of  heaven  and  send  rain 
upon  their  gardens.  But  last  year  the  chief  acknowledged  to 
me  that  he  knew  he  was  unable  to  do  so  ;  yet  he  keeps  up  the 
delusion  for  the  sake  of  power.  These  ancient  beliefs  of  the 
negro  in  the  power  of  chief's  medicines  and  enchantments  have, 
as  might  be  supposed,  very  slender  props  to  rest  on,  and  they 
are  kept  up  merely  to  fill  a  want  in  the  mind,  much  as  a  drown- 
ing man  will  catch  at  a  straw  in  his  need  of  something  to  bear 
him  up.  The  king's  servants  declare  themselves  to  be  invinc- 
ible, because  they  are  the  servants  of  god  (meaning  the  king)  ; 
but  when  some  discontented  Barotse  went  to  King  Sepopo,  the 
late  chief,  none  fled  faster  than  the  king's  bodyguard.  Sepopo, 
like  the  present  king,  would  boast  that  he  possessed  medicines 
and  enchantments  which  made  his  body  impervious  to  spear- 
bullet  ;  but  when  he  heard  of  the  insurgents,  Sepopo  fled  in 
haste,  and  a  bullet  through  the  chest  killed  him. 

"  Man  is  a  very  fragile  being,  and  he  is  fully  conscious  that 
he  requires  supernatural  or  Divine  aid.  Apart  from  the  distinct 
revelation  given  by  God  in  the  first  chapter  of  Romans  there  is 
much  to  prove  that  the  heathen  African  is  a  man  to  whom  the 
living  God  has  aforetime  revealed  Himself.  But  he  has  sought 
after  things  of  his  own  imagination  and  things  of  darkness  to 
satisfy  those  convictions  and  fears  which  lurk  in  his  breast,  and 
which  have  not  been  planted  there  by  the  evil  one,  but  by  God. 
Refusing  to  acknowledge  God  they  have  become  haters  of  God. 
The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  them,  however,  is  not  a  mere 
beating  of  the  air ;  there  is  a  peg  in  the  wall  upon  which  some- 
thing can  be  hung,  and  remain.  Often  a  few  young  men  have 
received  the  message  with  laughter  and  ridicule,  but  I  have 
afterwards  heard  them  discuss  my  words  amongst  themselves 
very  gravely.  I  heard  one  man  say  to  a  neighbour,  '  Monare's 
words  pierce  the  heart.'  Another  remarked  that  the  story  of 
Christ's  death  Avas  very  beautiful,  but  that  he  knew  it  was 
not  meant  for  him ;  he  was  a  makalaka  (slave),  and  such  a 
sacrifice  was  only  for  white  men  and  princes. 

"  Their  memories  are  so  acute,  that  many  days  after  being 
spoken  to,  they  will  return  in  order  to  discuss  some  question 
which  has  been  weighing  on  their  minds.    I  judge  from  their 


?^^ 


^'1 


A  Picturesque  Scene  in  Angola 

.A  native  hut  is  standing  beneath  the  beetling  rock  ;   and  a  man  is  climbing  a  palm-tree  to  cut  down  nuts. 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  BAROTSE    97 

actions  that  a  few  among  the  Barotse  have  consciously  received 
something  of  the  truth.  Molonda,  who  was  a  very  kind  friend 
to  me,  repeatedly  professed  his  belief  in  the  things  about  wliich 
we  had  long  talks  when  travelling  together  from  Shesheke  ; 
but  he  is  secretly  afraid  of  the  king  ;  and  the  putting  away  of 
his  extra  waves  would,  in  his  eyes,  end  his  career  among  the 
Barotse.  Mala,  of  Secumba,  one  of  the  nobles  of  the  land, 
when  he  came  to  the  king's  town,  used  to  dine  and  sup  with 
me,  and  we  would  read  and  talk  over  the  Scriptures  for  hours. 
Mamwia  has  suffered  much  from  her  husband  Gumbela,  the 
king's  prime  minister,  for  loving  to  come  and  hear  the  Scrip- 
tures read,  and  she  professes  to  know  the  Lord.  Our  Lord 
knows  all.  He  who  will  not  quench  the  smoking  flax,  nor  break 
the  bruised  reed,  can  nourish  the  little  spark  into  a  flame. 

"  During  the  time  I  was  in  the  Barotse,  the  chief  of  the 
Matabele,  sent  a  powerful  embassy  to  Liw^anika,  bringing 
presents  of  spears  and  shields,  and  inviting  Liwanika  to  become 
his  blood  brother,  and  to  join  with  the  Matabele  in  resisting  the 
invading  white  man,  I  was  able  to  persuade  Liwanika  that, 
apart  from  promises  and  the  power  of  respective  chiefs,  Elhama 
was  a  better  man  to  make  friends  with  than  Lobengula.  Loben- 
gula's  men  were  treated  with  great  hospitality  and  sent  away 
with  many  presents,  but  Liwanika  immediately  decided  to 
write  to  Khama  asking  for  his  friendship,  his  daughter  to  be 
Liwanika's  queen,  and  a  black  hunting  dog.  I  wrote  the  letter 
for  him,  and  my  man,  Setobi,  w^as  the  bearer  of  it.  He  was,  of 
course,  accompanied  by  several  Barotse.  Liwanika  added  a 
postscript  to  the  effect  that  Khama  was  to  do  all  in  his  power 
to  help  M.  and  Madame  Coillard  and  party  forward.  It  so 
happened  that  this  letter  arrived  in  time  to  meet  the  Coillards, 
and  it  is  quoted  by  Miss  Macintosh  in  the  interesting  life  she  has 
written  of  her  uncle  and  aunt,  M.  and  Madame  Coillard. 

"  Khama  replied  to  Liwanika  by  sending  a  horse  instead  of 
his  daughter,  giving  him  to  understand  at  the  same  time  that 
he  must  join  with  him,  not  against  the  white  man,  but  against 
the  white's  man  drink  if  he  wished  to  be  Khama's  friend. 

' '  When  staying  in  the  Barotse  Valley  I  came  into  contact 
with  many  interesting  people.  Here  was  a  headman  bearing 
the  honourable  title  of  '  the  Kling's  Mat,'  and  there  were  '  home ' 
and  '  foreign  ministers  '  at  Liwanika's  court.  Also  '  the  keeper 
of  the  city  of  refuge,'  a  kind  looking  old  man,  who  was  also  the 


98  MORE  ABOUT  THE  BAROTSE 

softener  of  the  king's  heart  when  he  was  angry  with  his  people. 
Of  all  these,  however,  the  king's  head  blacksmith  made  the 
most  lasting  impression  upon  me,  and  that  chiefly  for  his  son's 
sake.  I  think  I  can  see  him  now  splashing  across  the  flooded 
plains  that  surround  the  Lealui,  during  the  first  rains,  with  his 
son  riding  astraddle  over  his  shoulder,  plying  his  father  the 
while  with  all  sorts  of  interesting  questions.  When  first  I  saw 
Kakonda,  and  his  father  the  blacksmith,  pass  my  hut  door,  I 
had  just  recovered  somewhat  from  a  long  illness  and  was  begin- 
ning to  look  around  for  a  few  pupils,  but  it  seemed  difficult 
to  make  a  beginning.  When  his  father  reached  the  shed  where 
he  usually  kindled  his  fire,  and  repaired  the  king's  guns,  he  set 
Kakonda  down  to  play  about  with  the  village  children,  and  soon 
they  all  came  trooping  along  to  see  the  standing  wonder  of  the 
day,  the  white  man.  Kakonda  had  never  seen  me  before,  not  at 
least  at  close  quarters.  To  their  great  delight  they  found  that 
the  white  man  v/as  about  to  begin  breakfast ;  now  they  would  see 
him '  swallow  his  needles.'  This  story  of  the  '  bunch  of  needles  ' 
I  was  supposed  to  swallow  each  time  I  took  a  meal,  had  gone 
far  and  wide,  and  even  Liwanika  asked  me  seriously  if  it  was 
true.  I  had  no  difficulty,  of  course,  in  explaining  how  it  all 
arose  from  my  using  a  three-pronged  steel  fork  instead  of  my 
fingers  ;  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  giving  tliis  great  potentate 
(afterwards  so  dainty  and  correct)  his  first  lesson  in  the  use  of 
the  knife  and  fork.  But  to  return  to  my  little  crowd  of  visitors. 
They  were  almost  too  many  for  me  that  morning.  So  I  had, 
with  a  few  sticks  and  string,  constructed  a  barrier  beyond  which 
none  were  to  pass.  I  soon  picked  Kakonda  out  as  a  little 
stranger,  and  while  the  others  were  going  into  fits  of  laughter 
over  my  fork,  and  other  little  freaks  and  fancies  peculiar  to 
the  white  man,  Kakonda  kept  his  eyes  gravely  fixed  upon  me. 
At  last  I  saw  that  his  curiosity  was  getting  the  better  of  him, 
and  that  he  had  already  crept  under  the  string  barrier,  and  was 
moving  towards  my  hand  as  it  hung  by  my  side.  Of  course  I 
pretended  not  to  see  him,  although  all  the  other  little  chaps 
were  holding  their  breath  and  watching  the  stranger.  At  last 
I  felt  his  cold  fingers  stroking  my  hand  down  from  the  wrist  to 
the  points  of  the  fingers  again  and  again.  '  Well,  little  boy  ! 
What  do  you  want  ?  '  I  asked,  as  I  looked  down  and  met  his 
great,  big,  wondering,  half-tearful  eyes.  He  hesitated  but  for 
a  moment,  and  then  in  a  shrill  tone  of  voice  asked  me  to  tell  him. 


MORE  ABOUT  THE  BAROTSE    99 

'  Where  was  the  river  that  I  washed  in,  for  he  would  hke  to 
wash  in  that  river  too.'  The  dear  httle  chap  little  knew  how  I 
loved  him  as  I  looked  at  him,  and  longed  as  never  before  to 
lead  him  and  his  companions  to  the  living  fountain  of  waters. 
So  without  delay  I  had  the  table  cleared  and  started  my  first 
class.  I  explained  first  of  all  that  the  colour  of  our  skins  did  not 
matter;  the  skin  is  very  thin,  and  on  a  piece  of  paper  bent 
over  the  side  of  my  table,  I  was  able  to  show  how  a  dot  of  blood 
taken  from  my  own  white  hand,  and  a  dot  taken  from  Kakonda's 
black  hand,  were  both  red,  for  God  had  '  made  of  one  blood 
all  the  nations  of  men.'  And  then  I  asked  them  what  it  was  that 
lay  inside  of  skin,  and  blood  and  flesh,  right  in  the  middle.  All 
knew,  of  course,  and  answered,  '  the  heart.'  The  African  makes 
more  of  the  heart  than  we  do.  He  not  only  loves  and  hates  in 
his  heart,  but  he  thinks  in  his  heart ;  in  fact  his  heart  is  his  soul. 
But  I  had  no  needle  long  enough  to  prick  the  heart  to  see  what 
colour  it  was,  so  I  explained  how  God  who  made  us,  sees  right 
through  our  bodies,  which  to  Him  are  just  like  so  many  clear 
glass  bottles,  like  the  one  that  I  held  in  my  hand  with  a  black 
stone  inside  ;  and  He  tells  us  that  our  hearts  are  not  some  black, 
some  white,  but  all  black,  and  made  blacker  each  day  we  live, 
because  it  is  sin  that  defiles  a  man,  lying,  stealing,  etc.  But 
God  also  tells  us  of  a  river  that  can  wash  our  sins  away,  and 
so  on. 

"  My  little  class  came  together  for  several  mornings ;  and, 
between  spells  of  fever,  I  was  able  to  spell  out  the  Gospel,  line 
upon  line.  Kakonda's  father  was  killed  in  a  revolt  against 
Liwanika,  and  his  family  sold  into  slavery,  or  scattered  to 
remote  parts ;  but  one  of  the  boys  of  that  class,  thanks  to  M. 
Coillard's  training,  is  now  Liwanika's  Prime  Minister,  and  the 
British  Commissioner  in  the  Barotse  speaks  of  him  as  '  the  one 
shining  light  among  the  Barotse  people.' 

"  One  day  Liwanika  was  sitting  in  the  public  court,  disposing 
of  slaves  that  had  been  brought  in  from  the  Matotela  and 
Bankoio  as  tribute.  All  the  good  looking  and  able  bodied  were 
soon  disposed  of  to  eager  sycophants,  who  rushed  to  prostrate 
themselves  at  the  king's  feet  in  their  deep  gratitude.  But  one 
middle-aged  woman  and  a  little  boy  remained  sitting  alone. 
I  felt  keenly  for  the  woman,  she  looked  so  sad,  and  overcome 
with  shame  at  her  exposed,  humiliating  position.  I  could  not 
help  her,  but  on  learning  that  the  boy  was  not  her  son,  I  asked 


100        MORE   ABOUT  THE  BAROTSE 

that  he  might  be  sent  along  to  my  hut.  He  was  so  worn  and 
emaciated  with  hunger  that  it  was  with  difficulty  I  brought  him 
through.  For  weeks  after  he  could  not  see  food  without  making 
for  it.  One  day  I  set  him  to  clean  a  few  potatoes,  and  seated 
myself  on  a  chair  close  by  to  keep  guard  over  my  prospective 
dinner ;  but,  strange  to  say,  the  potatoes  began  to  disappear. 
In  a  few  minutes  there  were  certainly  fewer  in  the  basin  than 
when  Sikinini  set  out  to  wash  and  I  to  watch.  So  I  determined 
to  unravel  the  mystery,  and  quietly  watched  every  muscle  of 
his  body.  I  then  observed  that  with  the  middle  toe  of  his  foot 
he  Avas  digging  a  hole  in  the  sand ;  when  he  had  dug  deep  enough 
the  little  thief  eyed  me  very  steadily,  watching  for  a  sudden 
turn  of  my  head,  or  a  look  off  in  another  direction,  to  drop  a 
potato  into  the  hole  and  instantly  to  smooth  all  over  with  a 
quiet  gliding  movement  of  the  foot. 

"  Although  30  years  have  elapsed  since  Livingstone  first 
visited  the  Zambesi  and  the  Barotse  Valley,  and  more  than  20 
years  since  he  was  last  seen  there,  yet  the  remembrance  of  him, 
his  ways,  his  words,  his  physique,  is  as  fresh  as  yesterday.  I 
carried  a  photo  of  him  which  was  recognised  readily  by  those 
who  knew  him.  I  being  of  the  same  nation,  and  no  doubt  having 
a  national  likeness  to  him,  was  called  by  the  same  name,  Monare. 
This  I  at  first  resented,  feeling  altogether  unworthy  of  such  dis- 
tinction. However,  the  name  has  stuck  to  me,  sometimes 
Monare  nyan  (Young  Monare).  I  am  not  his  only  namesake. 
At  the  Barotse  they  have  named  many  of  their  children,  born 
at  the  time  of  Livingstone's  visit — now  grown  lads — after  him. 
Sekilitu's  mother,  and  one  of  Sibituane's  sisters  are  still  ahve 
though  very  old  women.  I  found  that  they  were  very  full  of 
his  memory.  One  thing  surprised  me  :  nowhere  was  it  even  as 
much  as  mooted  that  Livingstone  was  in  any  way  indebted  to 
them,  or  had  received  from  the  Makololo  any  material  help  in 
his  travels.  Everyone  in  fact  looked  upon  Livingstone  as  their 
great  benefactor.  Of  course  there  are  many  absurd  stories 
afloat  as  to  his  powers,  how  he  flew  down  to  the  bottom  of  the 
chasm  of  the  Victoria  Falls  (Livingstone  let  down  a  weighted 
line,  with  a  piece  of  paper  attached,  to  see  the  end  of  the  line 
better) ;  that  he  could  raise  the  dead  and  make  spirits  to  appear 
(the  magic  lantern  which  was  indeed  magic  to  them) ;  that  he 
had  a  dish  of  water  into  which  he  looked  and  read  instructions 
as  to  the  road  before  him  (no  doubt  his  compass). 


MORE   ABOUT   THE   BAROTSE        101 

"  Many  of  the  older  men  had  whole  sermons  of  his  off  by 
heart.  One  old  blind  man  named  Zape,  who  said  that  he  was  in 
Livingstone's  service  when  he  was  young  and  could  see,  had 
some  very  vivid  recollections  of  Livingstone.  And  one  evening, 
at  my  request,  he  gave  to  me  and  to  a  lot  of  young  men  gathered 
in  my  yard,  one  of  Livingstone's  sermons.  He  got  up  and  went 
through  it  bravely  as  follows  :  '  You  people  of  the  Makololo, 
you  great  men  and  warriors,  I  tell  you  you  are  not  great  men. 
You  are  bad  and  mean.  You  are  not  content  with  living  in 
your  own  houses  and  hoeing  your  own  gardens,  but  you  go  and 
attack  weak  people,  and  kill  them.  You  see  children  hoeing 
the  gardens  of  their  mothers,  and  you  take  them  prisoners. 
You  see  men  hunting  their  own  food,  and  herding  their  oxen, 
and  you  kill  them.  This  is  very  bad.  This  is  a  great  evil.  The 
Evangalia  has  gone  into  all  the  world  to  teach  men  that  to  be 
great  is  to  be  good.'  This  was  spoken  in  a  high  authoritative 
tone  of  voice.  He  dropped  this,  and  in  an  uncertain  fluttering 
way  touched  upon  one  of  Livingstone's  graphic  pictures  of  the 
last  judgment.  Of  the  Evangalia  he  had  confused  notions, 
thinking  that  that  was  the  name  of  a  person,  but  upon  my 
explaining  to  him  the  story  of  God's  love,  which  was  the  Evan- 
galia, or  the  Gospel,  it  brought  many  more  of  Livingstone's 
words  to  his  mind,  and,  repeating  them  as  he  did  to  me,  it  has 
helped  me  greatly  in  explaining  the  Gospel  story  in  the  Sekololo 
to  others. 

"  His  character  among  them  was  unimpeachable.  As  far 
down  as  Natal  I  heard  slander  stories  told  about  Livingstone's 
conduct  in  the  far  interior.  But  surely  if  there  had  been  an 
atom  of  truth  in  the  same  I  would  have  heard  something  to 
corroborate  them  in  the  far  interior.  The  African  keeps  no  such 
secrets.  I  was  told,  however,  from  some  man  who  came  from 
the  West  Coast,  and  had  met  Livingstone  at  the  Barotse,  that 
Monare  was  not  like  me  ;  he  married  a  native  woman  and  had 
a  child  alive  near  to  his  country.  This  I  did  not  for  a  moment 
believe.  I  questioned  him  closely,  and  up  and  down,  on  the 
matter,  and  found  that  he  was  confusing  Dr.  Livingstone  with 
an  Arab  trader  who  came  to  the  Barotse  at  the  same  time  as 
Livingstone,  and  who  also  went  to  the  West  Coast  in  company 
with  Sen.  Porto  by  a  different  road  from  Livingstone. 

"  Some  Bechuana  hunters  came  to  the  Barotse  about  this 
time.  Their  home  was  near  Kuruman.  Dr.  Moffat's  old  station  ; 


102        MORE   ABOUT  THE  BAROTSE 

but  they  had  been  hunting  elephants  for  years  in  the  deserts 
north  of  Lake  Ngami.  One  of  these  hunters  was  well  on  in 
years.  He  told  me  he  was  one  of  Dr.  Moffat's  '  children,'  and 
undertook  to  instruct  me  in  the  great  missionary's  methods. 
Moshete  (his  native  name)  would  go,  he  said,  to  the  chief's 
councils,  and  when  the  business  was  over  he  would  always  stand 
up  book  in  hand,  and  preach  vigorously.  If  any  chief  tried  to 
stop  him  he  never  grew  angry,  but  asked  so  earnestly  to  be 
allowed  to  go  on  that  they  always  listened  to  him.  So  I  became 
more  courageous,  and  repeatedly  tried  to  carry  the  war  more 
earnestly  into  the  enemy's  camp.  But  for  a  long  time  Liwanika 
cleverly  managed  to  head  me  off.  '  Had  he  not  given  me 
his  children  to  teach  ?  My  words  and  stories  were  really  only 
for  children,'  etc.  But  one  day  he  added,  '  Was  there  anything 
in  my  book  suitable  for  a  king  to  listen  to  ?  '  This  gave  me  a 
glimmer  of  hope  of  some  little  progress,  and  I  assured  him  with 
emphasis,  that  there  was  more  in  the  Bible  for  kings  and  about 
kings  than  any  other  class  of  men.  '  Well,'  he  said,  '  if  that  is 
so,  I  will  give  you  a  proper  hearing  ;  come  on  a  certain  day,  and 
I  will  gather  all  my  nobles,  and  we  ^vill  listen  to  the  message 
that  your  book  has  for  a  king.' 

"  But  now  my  troubles  began ;  I  could  not  think  of  a  suitable 
message.  From  morning  till  night  I  thumbed  my  Bible  without 
a  gleam  of  guidance.  After  a  quiet  hour  of  prayer,  I  turned 
again  to  look  for  my  message.  The  story  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
now  seemed  to  stand  out  before  me  in  golden  letters.  On  the 
appointed  day  I  went  to  the  kotla  and  turned  to  the  book  of 
Daniel,  translating  in  short  sentences  the  story  of  the  great 
Eastern  potentate.  Liwanika  listened  intently,  turning  round 
to  his  nobles  to  see  that  they  were  listening  too.  At  last  he 
could  not  contain  his  delight,  but  burst  forth  with,  '  That  is 
what  I  am  going  to  be.  I  am  the  great  Nebuchadnezzar  of 
Central  Africa.'  But  when  I  came  to  the  downfall  of  the  great 
monarch,  how,  because  of  his  pride  and  boastfulness,  he  was 
reduced  to  the  level  of  a  beast  having  claws  and  eating  grass, 
the  king's  countenance  fell  somewhat,  so  I  pressed  the  truth 
home  on  himself,  telling  him  how  wicked  he  was  as  a  man,  and 
as  a  king,  in  God's  sight,  but  I  was  to  proceed  no  further. 
Liwanika  sprang  from  his  chair,  and  left  the  enclosure  with 
this  strange  remark  :  "  What  does  the  white  man  mean  ?  I  am 
not  going  to  die  to-day.' 


MORE  ABOUT  THE   BAROTSE        103 

"  For  two  months  I  was  left  severely  alone  by  both  chief  and 
counsellors.  Then  I  heard  that  the  chief  was  ill,  ten  oxen  being 
driven  in  in  one  day  for  the  doctors  to  sacrifice  in  the  process 
of  preparing  remedies,  etc.  A  messenger  came  to  me  from 
Liwanika  to  say  that  he  had  had  a  dream  that  I  had  the 
medicine  that  would  make  him  better.  As  soon,  however,  as 
he  was  assured  that  there  was  no  one  near  to  hear  what  we 
were  saying,  he  forgot  all  about  his  health  and  began  to  tell  me 
how  he  abhorred  burning  witches,  selling  slaves,  and  making 
war  on  the  poor  tribes  around,  but  he  was  helpless,  he  said  ; 
still,  he  wished  to  keep  my  '  Sunday.'  As  I  listened  it  seemed 
clear  that  he  was  not  ill  in  body  but  in  mind  and  conscience. 
This  gave  me  the  opportunity  of  beginning  where  I  had  left 
off  in  the  history  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  of  pressing  home  on 
his  acceptance  the  unconditional  gift  of  God's  forgiveness.  The 
king  listened  patiently,  and  as  I  left  him,  he  said,  '  Come  every 
morning  and  teach  me.'  Troublous  times,  however,  were  await- 
ing Liwanika,  and  the  shadow  of  a  serious  revolution  was 
already  upon  him." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FROM   THE   ZAMBESI   TO   BENGUELLA 

'*      APRIL     22nd,     1884.— Gumbela,     and     some     of     my 

j^-i  friends,  seemed  to  think  it  was  well  that  I  should 
leave  just  now,  because  of  the  troubles  brewing,  so 
I  told  Senhor  Porto  that  I  would  accompany  him  to  Bihe. 
I  had  repeatedly  asked  Liwanika  to  allow  me  to  proceed  up 
the  Zambesi  to  the  tribes  living  north,  but  he  would  not  grant 
my  request.  These  people  were  the  dogs  of  the  Barotse,  and 
missionaries  would  not  be  allowed  to  visit  them.  So  I  decided 
to  go  West  with  Senhor  Silva  Porto. 

"  May  1st. — As  the  king  sent  word  that  a  boat  was  ready  for 
me,  I  packed  up,  sending  to  his  house  what  things  I  was  unable 
to  take  with  me,  and  giving  the  key  of  my  house  to  one  of  his 
servants.  When  I  went  to  say  good-bye  he  shook  hands  long 
and  warmly,  saying, '  You  are  my  friend,  come  back  very  soon. 
But,'  he  added  in  a  tone  of  sadness,  '  you  may  not  find  me 
here.' 

"  May  3rd. — ^Alarming  news  as  to  the  Barotse.  Plans  are 
laid  for  a  revolt  against  Liwanika,  and  it  is  intended  to  set  up 
the  son  of  Sekuferu. 

"  May  4th. — I  arranged  to-day  with  Senhor  Porto  about 
carriers,  and  shall  ride  upon  an  ox  instead  of  being  carried  in 
a  hammock,  as  he  proposed,  for  that  would  be  too  comfortable 
a  way  of  travelling,  and  might  make  me  discontented  and 
extravagant  at  other  times.  Liwanika  gave  me  a  young  ox 
as  a  parting  gift.  I  broke  him  in,  and  he  proved  a  most  valuable 
riding  animal. 

' '  May  8th. — I  set  out  with  Senhor  Porto,  not  without  much 
pain  and  difficulty  on  my  part,  owing  to  an  accident  which  I 
met  with  last  night,  and  which,  but  for  the  mercy  of  God, 
might  have  been  a  very  serious  one.  I  had  been  repairing  some 
guns  for  the  Barotse,  and,  on  firing  a  breechloader,  the  hinge 
of  the  block  gave  way,  and  my  face  and  right  eye  were  badly 

104 


FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA  105 

scorched  by  the  explosion.  To  add  to  my  misfortune,  my 
riding  ox  was  sent  off  by  mistake  in  the  early  morning,  so  I  had 
to  be  led  by  my  little  boy  for  ten  weary  miles,  most  of  the  way 
wading  up  to  the  knees  in  water,  and  then  through  rough  bush. 
Reached  the  town  of  Kangete  and  camped  there. 

"  May  10th. — Started  on  a  small  ox  of  Senhor  Porto's.  Our 
road  lay  through  thick  forest,  and  a  sorry  journey  the  ox  and 
and  I  made  between  us.  The  footpath  was  bad  and  narrow 
enough,  but  my  ox  had  no  idea  of  keeping  to  it,  and  dragged 
me  about  in  all  directions.  After  any  delay,  in  catching  sight 
of  Senhor  Porto's  oxen  he  would  canter  straight  towards  them, 
leaving  either  me,  or  bits  of  my  distressed  clothing,  detained 
by  the  '  wait-a-bit '  thorn  bushes.  I  managed  with  difficulty 
to  retain  my  hat,  but  the  bandage  I  had  round  my  eyes  was 
left  in  the  thorns.  At  last  I  sent  the  ox  about  his  business 
and  lay  down  quite  out  of  breath,  and,  I  fear,  sadly  out  of 
temper.  Some  of  the  carriers  came  to  urge  me  on,  but  it  was 
of  no  use,  till  a  female  slave,  carrying  some  provisions  on  her 
head,  gave  me  a  cool  drink  and  some  coarse  bread,  which  sent 
me  on  my  journey,  moralising  on  the  superior  humanity  of 
women. 

"  May  12th. — My  own  ox  was  secured  this  morning,  and  I 
got  on  much  better  with  him.  Started  from  Kakap  long  before 
cock-crow  (Senhor  Porto  carries  a  cock  with  him  to  crow),  and 
early  in  the  day  we  reached  Osore,  a  lake  of  considerable  size, 
and  camped  there.  My  eyes  are  gradually  getting  better 
through  the  constant  application  of  poultices  of  ox-dung, 
heated  in  a  pan. 

"  May  13th. — ^Crossed,  on  the  shoulders  of  a  stout  Bihe 
porter,  a  deep-running  river,  and  camped  by  the  Nyengo. 

"  May  lUh. — Passed  through  much  water  on  the  Nyengo 
flat,  my  ox  swimming  bravely  with  me  on  his  back.  Camped 
at  Relva. 

"  May  15th. — A  tedious  journey  through  a  dense,  dark 
forest,  which  smelt  like  a  dank  dungeon,  with  moss  and  lichen, 
but  no  grass.  Camped  at  Ka-kinga  on  the  River  Ninda,  as 
the  upper  part  of  the  Nyengo  is  called,  where  the  Ambuella, 
a  small  tribe  of  the  Bambunda  race,  are  living. 

"  May  19th. — ^Travelled  along  the  right  bank  of  the  Ninda. 

"  May  20th. — A  wild-looking  company  of  Bambunda 
hunters  came  to  the  camp  ;   they  dress  their  hair  to  imitate 


106    FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA 

the  horns  of  wild  animals,  and  one  had  a  stick  through  his  nose. 
In  this  part  the  Bambundu  are  peaceable,  but  further  on  they 
form  robber  gangs,  and  would  be  dangerous  to  a  small  party. 

"  May  list. — Journeyed  along  the  Ninda.  Ever  since 
leaving  the  Barotse  Valley  we  have  been  constantly  ascending, 
so  that  now  we  are  travelling  through  hilly  country,  very  cold 
at  night,  with  sharp  touches  of  frost,  but  during  the  day  the 
sun  is  strong.  I  have  tried  to  walk  barefoot,  my  boots  being 
worn  out,  but  the  sand  was  so  hot  after  half  an  hour's  hopping 
along  I  had  to  give  in,  with  four  large  blisters  on  my  feet  ; 
this  is  Avinter  hefe. 

"  May  22«d!. — To-day  we  reached  the  source  of  the  Ninda, 
which  flows  from  a  range  of  hills  dividing  the  water  flow 
between  the  Zambesi  and  Quando  rivers.  Here  the  hills  are 
high  and  thickly  wooded. 

"  May  23;-d. — Crossed  the  hills  and  reached  the  source  of 
the  River  Shuhmgo,  tributary  to  the  Kumbule,  which  again  is 
tributary  to  the  Quando  River.  Following  the  Shulongo  we 
came  to  the  Kumbule,  a  large,  beautiful  stream,  which  seemed 
to  dance  along  over  a  bed  of  silver  sand,  so  bright  that  it  was 
painful  to  look  at  it.  Orange,  green,  and  other  bright  coloured 
water  weeds  were  growing  in  abundance,  and  were  beautifully 
mixed.  All  the  rivers  and  little  streams  have  the  same  bright 
appearance  in  this  part  of  the  country,  showing  that  '  Afric's 
sunny  fountains  '  is  no  mere  poetic  dream  ;  but  the  sands  are 
silver,  not  '  golden,'  as  in  Heber's  hymn.  It  is  a  pity  to  see 
such  a  fertile,  and  undoubtedly  healthy  country,  so  thinly 
populated. 

"  May  2'isih. — Crossed  hilly  country,  densely  wooded,  and 
reached  the  River  Shikoloi,  running  south  through  a  valley. 

"  3Iay  25th. — The  oxen  refusing  to  cross  the  river,  were  sent 
up-stream  to  look  for  a  ford. 

"  May  26th. — ^There  being  no  sign  of  the  oxen  we  started  for 
the  Kuti  River,  crossing  four  hills  and  three  valleys. 

"  May  27th. — One  of  the  carriers,  who  has  a  familiar  spirit, 
being  asked  to  diAane  why  the  oxen  would  not  cross  the  Shikoloi, 
called  up  the  spirit  of  an  old  servant  of  Senhor  Porto's,  who 
said  that  he  had  stopped  the  oxen  because  presents  had  not 
been  given  to  his  friends  after  his  death.  One  of  his  friends 
was  amongst  the  company  of  carriers.  The  events  that  fol- 
lowed bore  out  the  diviner's  theory  only  too  truly.    We  .  hould. 


FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA  107 

however,  have  said  that  the  friend  of  the  aggrieved  dead  man 
was  one  of  the  ox  herds,  and  not  merely  one  of  the  carriers. 
For  when  the  lost  oxen  did  turn  up,  the  slaves  in  charge 
declared  that  when  dri\ang  the  unwilling  cattle  across  the  river, 
one  of  them  broke  away  from  the  rest  and  escaped  into  the 
forest.  After  days  of  searching  they  found  a  torn  piece  of  ox- 
hide which  they  had  brought  with  them  that  their  master 
might  look  at  it  and  see  with  his  own  eyes  if  this  was  not  a  part 
of  the  skin  of  his  own  ox,  who  had  doubtless  been  torn  by  a 
lion.  The  brethren  of  Joseph,  with  his  coat  of  many  colours  in 
their  hands,  could  not  have  presented  a  more  doleful  spectacle. 
Senhor  Porto  had  been  suffering  badly  from  ophthalmia  and 
could  not  inspect  the  skin,  and  so  let  the  matter  drop.  But 
I  could  see  that  the  skin  had  been  hacked  around  with  a  knife, 
and  that  the  tooth  of  a  wild  animal  had  never  touched  it. 

' '  May  SQth. — Deciding  to  visit  the  line  of  small  towns  along 
this  river  belonging  to  the  Bakuti,  a  people  akin  to  the  Balu- 
chaze,  we  got  a  boat  and  pulled  up  the  stream,  stopping  at  all 
the  huts  and  small  villages.  The  people  showed  much  frank- 
ness, and  said  how  glad  they  were  to  see  an  '  English '  for  the 
first  time.  I  asked  them  to  gather  together  at  their  chief  town 
in  two  days'  time,  and  then  I  would  speak  to  them. 

"  May  Slst. — All  day  buying  food,  which  the  people  bring 
in  abundance.  I  never  saw  food  anywhere  in  Africa  so  cheap 
as  it  is  here.  A  piece  of  calico,  about  the  size  of  a  handkerchief, 
will  buy  about  20  lbs.  of  meal  or  a  calabash  of  honey. 

"  June  1st,  1884. — In  the  afternoon  a  goodly  company  had 
assembled  to  be  spoken  to,  all  men,  for  everywhere  in  Africa 
the  women  are  the  most  conservative  and  the  most  difficult 
to  persuade  into  receiving  anything  new,  and  here  they  had 
shut  themselves  up  in  their  huts.  These  people  had  lived  in 
such  seclusion  that  they  knew  nothing  of  teachers  living 
amongst  other  tribes,  the  limit  of  their  knowledge  being  the 
West  Coast  trader,  his  goods,  his  ivory,  and,  in  past  years,  his 
string  of  slaves.  Speaking  through  my  interpreter,  Antonio, 
I  told  them  in  the  simplest  language  of  God  the  Creator,  of 
man's  departure  from  Him,  of  the  sending  forth  of  God's  Son 
as  a  Saviour,  and  of  His  now  sending  messengers  throughout 
the  world  to  call  men  back  to  Himself.  Their  close  attention 
made  me  feel  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  blessing  the  Word, 
and  at  the  end  they  expressed  their  thanks  by  clapping  their 


108     FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA 

hands.  The  chief  then  said  that  they  could  not  tell  how  happy 
they  were  that  I  had  spoken  in  that  way  to  them  ;  he  had 
believed  in  a  great  God  Who  had  made  all  things,  but  he 
wanted  to  know  that  God,  that  he  might  pray  to  Him  at  all 
times. 

"  Senhor  Porto  says  that  these  people  are  exceptionally 
simple  and  honest  ;  he  has  never  known  them  to  steal  any  of 
the  goods  that  he  has  left  in  the  charge  of  their  chief  from  time 
to  time.  They  live  in  square  houses  built  close  to  the  River 
Kuti,  which  forms  their  highway  ;  each  person  possesses  a 
boat,  and,  as  there  is  a  continual  traffic  going  on,  the  river 
presents  a  very  lively  appearance.  The  hair  of  these  people 
receives  more  dressing  than  their  bodies  ;  the  men  wear  a  skin 
before  and  behind  from  the  girdle,  but  the  women  use  calico 
for  their  clothing.  They  have  blankets  made  of  the  inner 
bark  of  a  large  tree,  beaten  soft. 

"  June  Uh. — Many  gathered  at  the  villages,  and  we  had  a 
good  time  this  morning.  One  man  showed  great  interest,  and 
said  afterwards,  '  This  day  I  am  a  child  of  Jesus  Christ  :  now 
I  will  pray  to  God  alone.'  Some  wished  me  to  return  to-morrow, 
but  the  chief  said,  '  No,  we  shall  tire  the  white  man  by  his 
coming  so  far  ;  we  will  gather  together,  and  go  to  his  camp.' 

"  June  5th. — A  goodly  number  came  to  the  camp  to-day. 

"  Ju7ie  6th. — Had  a  long  talk  with  the  chief  and  the  man 
who  said  he  was  a  child  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  told  them  that 
though  I  was  leaving,  I  would,  God  willing,  return  to  them. 
The  chief  replied  that  they  would  look  much  for  my  return, 
that  they  would  not  forget  the  good  news  brought  to  them,  and 
that  they  would  pray  God  to  bring  me  back  in  safety.  I  have 
hope  toward  God  that  these  two  men  have  indeed  drunk  of  that 
living  water,  of  which  if  a  man  drink  he  shall  never  thirst  again. 
As  yet  I  have  not  been  able  to  fulfil  my  promise  of  returning, 
but  should  be  indeed  glad  to  do  so. 

"  June  8th. — Started  for  the  village  of  Kwawewe,  but 
learning  that  the  people  had  moved  away  and  were  living 
amongst  the  reeds  some  distance  off,  I  at  last  found  their  huts, 
but  in  the  chief's  absence  was  not  allowed  to  visit  them. 

"  June  9th. — The  chief  came  to-day,  saying  he  was  sorry 
he  was  absent  yesterday,  but  that  now  he  had  brought  his 
people  to  hear  what  I  had  to  say.  I  spoke  to  them  all  in  my 
hut,  and  the  chief,  who  seems  to  be  a  sensible,  cautious  man, 


FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA  109 

thanked  me  repeatedly,  and  wanted  to  give  me  a  little  boy 
as  a  present. 

"  June  IBth. — Started  early  in  the  morning,  the  main  body 
of  the  carriers  being  behind.  We  passed  several  villages  safely, 
the  people  only  coming  out  to  look  at  us,  but  when  we  reached 
one  of  their  large  towns  they  gathered  round  us  dancing, 
shouting,  and  yelling  to  us  to  stop,  and  swinging  their  weapons 
over  their  heads.  They  then  laid  hold  on  some  of  the  carriers, 
and  drove  off  my  ox,  so  I  ran  back  and  kept  them  off  the 
goods  until  Senhor  Porto  came  up  with  some  more  men.  I 
was  within  a  very  small  inch  of  getting  my  head  split  with  an 
axe.  Springing  from  his  hammock  Senhor  Porto  seized  his 
gun,  which  made  the  ruffians  fall  back.  Having  recovered 
my  ox,  I  started  off  with  the  boys  and  women  carriers,  while 
Senhor  Porto  and  some  armed  men  kept  the  Baluchaze  at  bay. 

"  June  lUh. — Reached  the  town  of  Herero,  who  is  headman 
of  the  Baluchaze  living  along  the  Kuti.  He  proved  as  dis- 
agreeable as  liis  people,  demanding  from  us  an  ox  and  some 
leopard  skins.  I  sent  word  to  Herero  that  I  was  a  man  of 
peace,  who  had  come  from  far,  and  that  I  hoped  to  return  to 
them  shortly. 

"  June  15th. — Got  off  without  further  trouble,  Senhor  Porto 
having  given  some  leopard  skins  to  the  chief.  Left  the  Kuti, 
and,  crossing  a  very  steep  hill,  descended  to  the  River  Kuvan- 
gui,  a  rapid  and  deep  stream,  which  I  crossed  by  a  frail  wooden 
bridge,  the  carriers  going  further  up  to  a  ford.  Keeping  by  this 
river  for  four  hours  we  passed  Kankanga's,  and  then  camped 
at  the  town  of  Kkshima's  daughter.  I  speak  of  '  towns  '  ;  but 
though  the  people  are  in  considerable  numbers,  gathered  close 
together  imder  their  chief,  their  huts  are  so  hidden  and  scattered 
in  dense  wood,  that  to  a  passer-by  the  only  signs  of  the  presence 
of  human  beings  are  certain  narrow  and  winding  footpaths 
here  and  there. 

"  The  regular  camping  places  are  generally  on  the  border  of 
some  forest,  where  the  porters  can  get  sufficient  poles  to  erect 
rude  frameworks,  the  spaces  of  which  are  filled  with  leafy 
branches  ;  and  in  the  rainy  season  a  rough  thatch  covering 
is  added.  We  were  busy  getting  our  camp  into  order  when  some 
Baluchaze  came,  evidently  bent  upon  mischief.  Getting 
nothing  for  their  impudence  they  left  us.  In  a  short  time, 
however,  we  saw  the  long  grass  on  all  sides  of  us  on  fire.    All 


110    FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA 

our  men  turned  out,  and  beating  down  the  flames  as  they 
approached  our  camp,  they  succeeded  in  stamping  out  the  fire. 
We  then  called  the  men  together  and  discovered  that  eight 
of  our  number  were  missing,  so  that  our  worst  suspicions  con- 
cerning these  Baluchaze  were  confirmed.  They  had  set  fire 
to  the  grass  around  our  camp  to  distract  our  attention  while 
they  carried  off  all  the  stragglers  they  could  catch.  We  found 
that  two  of  our  men  had  been  taken  some  distance,  but  the 
other  six  were  still  in  the  neighbourhood. 

"  Calling  for  volunteers  I  procured  from  the  bottom  of  my 
trunk  a  pistol  that  Mr.  Westbeech  had  given  me,  and  set  to 
cleaning  and  loading  it.  We  soon  had  30  smart  young  men 
ready  to  follow  up  the  robbers.  I  lined  them  up,  and  as  all 
claimed  kinship  with  the  stolen  men  1  knew  that  they  could  be 
relied  upon.  And  now  what  about  a  short  prayer  ?  I  fumbled 
with  my  pistol.  Certainly  to  the  African  mind  I  knew  I  could 
not  have  it  both  ways.  So  after  a  struggle  I  hastened  back 
to  my  box,  replaced  the  pistol,  and  then  in  the  midst  of  the 
men  I  knelt  and  humbly  asked  God,  for  Jesus'  sake,  to  give 
us  back  the  two  stolen  men.  And  so  off  we  set.  The  light 
was  just  sufficient  to  enable  us  to  find  the  trail ;  soon  darkness 
fell  as  on  we  sped  in  silence. 

"  After  a  weary  ten-mile  journey  over  the  hills  we  came 
upon  the  robbers,  and  found  them  ready  to  fight,  as  they  only 
thought  we  had  come  to  recover  by  force  the  stolen  men. 
I  made  every  effort  to  get  between  my  own  men  and  the 
Baluchaze,  and,  as  a  sign  of  my  peaceful  intentions,  I  held  up 
one  of  their  native  stools  in  front  of  the  threatening  crowd  and 
then  sat  down  upon  it,  urging  them  to  sit  down  and  talk  with 
me.  The  old  chief,  seeing  the  younger  men  fall  back,  began 
to  chide  them  for  being  afraid,  and  rushing  forward  he  levelled 
his  gun  at  me,  ready  to  fire.  By  this  time  our  Bihe  men  had 
their  guns  to  their  shoulders,  but  I  called  upon  them  not  to 
fire.  The  young  men,  fearing  that  their  old  chief  would  bring 
mischief  upon  them  if  he  shot  me,  laid  hold  of  him,  took  his 
gun  from  him,  and  marched  him  off  to  a  hut  close  by,  in  the 
most  ignominious  manner,  with  his  hands  behind  his  back. 
At  last,  one  by  one,  they  came  near  and  sat  down,  and  we 
talked  the  matter  over.  They  said  they  were  not  angry  with 
us,  but  with  other  white  men  who  were  their  enemies,  and  they 
at  last  promised  to  bring  down  the  two  captives  next  day  to 


FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA  HI 

camp.  They  kept  their  word,  and  the  stolen  men  were  brought 
back  next  day  ;  presents  were  exchanged,  and  thus  ended 
what  had  been  to  me  a  very  trying  ordeal. 

"  June  21st. — At  the  head  of  the  Rovangwe  River  some  men, 
who  remained  behind  with  a  worn-out  ox,  were  attacked  by 
a  roving  company  of  Baluchaze  ;  but  a  few  carriers,  observing 
what  had  happened,  laid  down  their  loads  and  ran  back  to 
their  assistance,  and  the  robbers  decamped. 

"  June  22nd. — Left  the  Okovangu  Valley,  crossed  a  high 
range  of  hills,  in  the  midst  of  which  runs  the  Sinsoy  River, 
and  rea,ched  the  Kwando  River  in  the  afternoon.  It  is  nearly 
two  years  since  I  first  struck  this  river  some  distance  below 
Linyanti,  where  it  is  broad  and  reedy,  taking  hours  to  cross 
while  here  it  is  but  eight  or  ten  feet  broad. 

"  June  23rd. — As  we  go  up  the  Kwando  the  scenery  becomes 
more  expanded  and  grand.  The  hills  on  each  side  are  high  and 
wide  apart,  and  covered  on  the  tops  with  dense  forest.  Bright, 
rapid  streams  run  down  every  valley.  It  is  strange  to  find 
every  stream  in  this  part  of  the  country  full  in  the  dry  season  ; 
during  the  rains  they  are  low.  The  hills  here  seem  to  be  one 
mass  of  sand,  firm  though  very  porous.  They  absorb  the  rains 
as  they  fall,  and  months  pass  before  the  water  reaches  the  bed 
of  clay  underlying  these  sand  hills.  The  rivers  run  off  this 
clay  bed,  and  all  through  the  dry  season  the  water  trickles 
into  them  from  both  banks  and  all  along  their  courses. 

"  June  2Uh. — Reached  the  head  of  the  Kwando,  which 
rises  very  quietly  out  of  a  pool  about  15  ft.  in  diameter.  Our 
camp  being  soon  crowded  with  people,  of  whom  there  are  many 
here,  I  told  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  tribe  something  of  my 
mission,  and  of  the  God  whom  I  served.  The  old  man  ran  off 
excitedly  to  bring  some  other  old  men,  who  greeted  me  with 
clapping  of  hands,  and  to  them  he  retailed  with  great  energy 
what  I  had  said  to  him.  I  told  them  I  was  only  journeying  to 
get  cloth  wherewith  to  buy  food,  and  would  return  soon.  But 
my  old  friend  wanted  to  know  exactly  when  I  would  come  back. 
Would  I  return  when  the  corn  was  so  high,  or  so  high,  or  so 
high  ? — lifting  the  hand  a  foot  or  so  each  time. 

"  June  25th. — Crossed  the  Kutau  and  Biseque  ;  camped 
at  Kambuti,  at  the  head  of  the  latter  river.  The  Biseque  joins 
the  Kutau,  which  falls  into  the  Lungebungo,  a  tributary  of  the 
Zambesi.    For  some  time  back  I  have  been  travelling  almost 


112    FROM  THE  ZAMSESl  TO  BENGUELLA 

entirely  on  foot,  as  my  riding  ox  is  quite  done  up  for  want  of 
grass,  which  the  frost  by  night  and  the  sun  by  day  have  withered 
to  tinder.  Walking  15  miles  a  day  through  deep  sand  and 
under  a  hot  sun  is  not  easy  work,  and  on  hearing  of  it  Senhor 
Porto  was  quite  angry,  saying  that  I  should  surely  be  ill  after 
it ;  so  between  us  we  tigged  up  a  hammock,  and  he  has  given 
me  four  of  his  own  men  to  carry  it.  To-day  I  enjoyed  my 
hammock  ride  amazingly. 

"  June  26th. — ^At  Kambuti.  This  is  the  first  place  where 
I  have  seen  the  domestic  pig  in  native  territory. 

"  June  27th. — Reached  the  Kansambe  River,  and  camped 
at  Brut  we.  The  Kansambe  is  a  small  river  running  east,  not 
west,  as  Serpa  Pinto  has  it  in  his  map  ;  it  joins  the  Kuango 
on  its  western  side,  which  runs  parallel  with  the  Kutau  into  the 
Lungebungo.  Crossed  a  liigh  range  of  hills,  and  camped  by 
the  Kambimbia,  flowing  west ;  its  waters  go  by  the  Nyonga  and 
Kuito  to  the  Okovangu  River,  which  flows  into  Lake  Ngami. 

"  June  29th. — Crossed  the  Kuito  River.  The  Baluchaze 
are  not  found  further  west ;  they  belong  to  the  Ambuella  race, 
which  is  the  same  as  the  Baluchaze,  their  language  being  merely 
a  different  dialect.  Like  all  hill  men,  they  are  wild  and  trouble- 
some, continually  roving  about.  Among  themselves,  however, 
these  natives  are  very  plaj^ul  and  childlike,  and  seem  very 
fond  of  one  another.  Many  of  the  Bachokwe  live  amongst 
them,  but  do  not  wander  much  from  home  like  the  hill  people. 
Some  who  had  been  a  short  distance  away,  and  travelled  in 
our  company,  seemed  to  be  quite  overcome  with  joy  at  getting 
home  again.  Their  friends  were  not  satisfied  with  merely 
embracing  them,  but  caressed  them  in  the  most  affectionate 
manner.  It  reminded  me  of  the  conduct  of  a  poor  Masaroa 
woman,  who  with  her  husband  and  baby  had  been  captured 
by  a  company  of  raiding  Matabele.  Her  little  boy  of  ten  had 
escaped  in  the  fray,  and  remained  behind  ;  but  on  the  way  her 
husband  was  killed,  and  the  woman,  watching  her  opportunity, 
ran  away  from  her  captors.  After  a  wearisome  journey  of 
over  70  miles  through  a  most  dreary  and  desolate  country, 
with  her  little  babe  on  her  back,  she  returned  to  the  place  where 
her  boy  was.  Taking  him  in  her  arms,  with  all  the  warmth  of 
a  true  mother,  she  burst  into  tears,  saying,  '  Ah,  my  boy,  you 
have  lost  your  father,  and  you  do  not  know  how  near  you  were 
to  losing  me  ! ' 


Z  p 

3  2 

^  I 

r-  rt 

f-4  M 


FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA  118 

"  Their  attachment  to  one  another,  although  a  beautiful 
feature  in  their  character,  is  embarrassing  at  times  to  strangers, 
for,  on  seeking  to  strike  a  bargain  with  one  of  them,  you 
find  you  have  a  dozen  to  deal  with.  The  same  thing  happens 
when  one  thinks  he  is  injured,  be  he  young  or  old.  A  cry  is 
raised,  and  all  come  to  the  rescue.  In  this  way  I  have  seen  the 
most  serious  disturbances  arise  out  of  the  merest  trifle. 

"  July  2nd. — Following  the  course  of  the  Onda  River,  we 
passed  through  a  fine  open  country,  crossing  a  running  stream 
of  water  every  half-hour,  some  large,  some  small,  but  all 
running  rapidly.  During  the  dry  season  the  whole  country 
could  be  put  under  water  by  irrigation.  Why  it  should  be 
almost  entirely  deserted  by  the  Kimbanda  I  cannot  say.  We 
reached  the  town  of  ICabango,  who  had  recently  died  ;  the 
Kjmbanda  were  very  civil,  and  careful  not  to  give  offence. 

"  July  3rd. — Camped  by  the  Letot  River.  Here  a  trouble 
that  had  been  brewing  for  a  long  time  amongst  the  men,  broke 
out.  We  were  now  getting  near  to  Bihe,  and  one  of  the  men 
insisted  that  another  who  owed  him  something  should  pay  his 
dc?bt  before  they  entered  their  own  country.  The  other  refused 
to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness,  and  hot  words  led  to  blows. 
Seizing  his  gun,  already  loaded,  the  debtor  pulled  the  trigger 
twice  while  aiming  at  the  other's  breast,  but  being  only  a 
flint  lock  it  missed  fire  on  both  occasions.  The  creditor  in  self- 
defence  rushed  on  liis  assailant  with  a  club,  and  compelled  him 
to  drop  his  gun  by  breaking  two  of  his  fingers.  The  injured 
man  then  seized  his  knife  from  his  belt,  rushed  at  the  man 
he  had  failed  to  shoot,  and  stabbed  him,  the  knife  entering 
rather  deeply  into  the  abdomen.  By  this  time  the  men  in  camp 
had  come  to  the  rescue,  and  prevented  further  mischief  by 
separating  the  antagonists. 

"  July  Uh. — Spent  four  hours  in  crossing  the  Quanza  River  ; 
such  confusion  I  never  saw,  everyone  rushing  into  the  water 
to  get  his  own  load  into  the  boats.  I  stood  up  to  the  waist  in 
water,  with  a  big  stick,  to  prevent  the  men  from  overloading 
the  long  canoes.  Ultimately  all  got  over  safely,  and  camped 
at  Yapepa,  close  by  the  Kukema  River, 

"  July  5th. — Crossed  in  boats,  and  after  a  long  day's  journey 
lodged  at  Chikoma's  town,  the  same  who  found  Cameron  far 
in  the  interior  in  very  destitute  circumstances,  and  brought  him 
out  to  Bihe,  whence  he  reached  Benguella. 


114    FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA 

"  I  am  now  in  Bihe  territory,  and  mark  a  decided  change 
for  tiie  better  in  the  outward  appearance  of  everything.  Every- 
one is  well  dressed  ;  the  men  wear  hats  and  coats  and  a  rather 
long  cloth  kilt ;  the  women  wrap  themselves  in  cotton  cloth 
from  the  armpits  downwards  ;  bright,  grotesque  patterns 
being  the  rage  amongst  them.  Their  houses  are  square  and 
well  built,  with  hinged  doors  and  native-made  iron  locks  ; 
all,  of  course,  in  imitation  of  the  Portuguese.  Their  gardens 
are  large,  well  tilled,  and  neatly  furrowed,  quite  like  our  fields 
at  home.  But  they  are  sadly  given  to  drink  and  immorality, 
it  being  an  undeniable  fact  that  those  tribes  which  live  near 
Europeans,  and  imitate  them,  are  more  depraved  in  their 
manners  than  the  tribes  of  the  interior. 

"  July  14th. — We  safely  reached  Belmonte,  Senhor  Porto's 
residence  in  Bihe,  and  he  kindly  entertained  me.  Bihe  is  the 
name  of  a  district,  which  is  thickly  peopled.  To-day  we  went 
to  see  the  king  of  these  parts,  a  man  about  60  years  of  age, 
who  looks  all  fat  and  g6od  humour  ;  he  is  lodged  in  the  centre 
of  a  large  town,  quite  a  city.  Senhor  Porto  said  that  we  were 
fortunate  in  finding  him  sober,  as  his  normal  condition  is  much 
the  reverse. 

"  July  I6th. — Bad  news  has  come  from  Bailundu  to  the 
effect  that  the  American  missionaries  have  been  robbed  and 
turned  out  of  house  and  home. 

"  July  19th. — Men  who  were  sent  to  Bailundu  informed  us, 
on  their  return,  that  they  found  the  missionaries'  houses  in  the 
hands  of  the  natives,  but  where  the  missionaries  had  gone,  or 
what  had  become  of  them,  they  could  not  learn.  I  cannot 
think  of  sitting  here  when  my  brethren  are  thus  in  trouble, 
so  start  to-morrow  to  see  and  hear  for  myself. 

"  July  22nd. — Crossed  the  Kutato  River,  and  reached  the 
town  of  Dungenugo,  the  son  of  the  reigning  king  of  Bailundu, 
who  said  that  it  was  entirely  owing  to  the  conduct  of  a  European 
trader  that  the  missionaries  had  left  the  country. 

"  July  2Uh. — Passed  many  towns,  the  people  of  which 
brouglit  out  dishes  of  maize  beer  for  me  and  my  men  to  drink. 
Two  men  met  me  at  some  distance  from  Atinda  to  run  my 
hammock  into  the  town  ;  they  ran  so  fast  that  they  broke  the 
hammock  pole,  and  instead  of  ha^ang  a  grand  entrance  into 
the  town,  I  was  landed  rolling  in  the  dust  just  before  the  gate. 

"  July  25th. — Reached  the  town  of  Chikulu,  the  chief  man 


FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA  115 

in  the  country  at  present,  and  had  a  long  palaver  with  him  and 
a  few  of  the  headmen,  through  my  interpreter  Jumbo.  They 
had  been  persuaded  by  an  evil  disposed  trader  and  rum  dis- 
tiller that  the  little  tins  containing  meat,  etc.,  were  full  of 
fetish  enchantments,  intended  by  the  missionaries  for  the 
destruction  of  the  Bailundu  kingdom.  The  missionaries  had 
to  flee,  seemingly  taking  nothing  but  their  wives  and  little 
children.  It  was  distressing  to  see  all  round  the  destruction 
of  valuable  property.  Books  of  all  kinds,  photographs,  letters, 
clothing,  tins  of  sugar,  tea,  etc.,  were  in  every  native's  hands. 
With  all  my  energy  I  spoke  out  to  these  Bailundu  people  as  to 
the  way  in  which  they  had  permitted  men  to  be  turned  out 
of  house  and  home  who  had  come  to  them  with  a  message  of 
peace  from  the  true  God  ;  they  had  treated  them  as  they 
would  not  treat  their  dogs. 

"  Chikulu  sent  for  the  trader,  who  tried  at  once  to  make 
friends  with  me,  but  being  in  no  gentle  mood  I  brought  him  to 
the  point,  and  asked  what  charge  he  had  against  the  Americans. 
'  Oh,'  said  he,  '  I  thought  they  were  Jews,  and  not  Christian 
missionaries  I '  He  was  compelled  to  explain  matters  to  the 
natives,  and  I  asked  Chikulu  if  he  was  satisfied  ;  to  which 
he  replied, '  Perfectly,'  adding  that  as  the  trader  had  only  been 
telling  lies,  he  himself  was  willing,  if  I  would  only  say  the 
word  to  lay  hands  on  him  then  and  there.  I  said  I  had  come, 
not  with  any  authority  or  intention  to  punish  him,  but  to  see 
justice  done  to  my  friends,  and  that  Chikulu  must  gather  the 
mis.sionaries'  goods  together  and  keep  them  in  safety  until  their 
return.  My  visit,  I  am  thankful  to  say,  ended  in  his  sending 
one  of  his  headmen  and  50  carriers  to  bring  back  the  mis- 
sionaries. 

"  The  despotic  power  of  the  chiefs  makes  all  mission  work 
very  uncertain  in  Africa  at  present,  except  where  law  and 
order  are  established  and  upheld,  and  therefore  prayer  for 
those  '  in  authority  '  in  Africa  is  especially  needed.  Any  whim 
or  sudden  enmity  of  the  chief,  and  fetish  divination,  or,  as  in 
this  case,  the  e\'il  counsel  of  an  interested  trader,  may  lead  to 
the  overthrow  of  years  of  work,  and  it  may  take  a  long  time 
before  it  can  be  resumed.  On  this  occasion  it  was  my  most 
unexpected  arrival  from  the  interior  that  led  to  an  unusually 
speedy  turn  of  the  tide  in  favour  of  the  missionaries.  Though 
Bailundu  and  Bihe  are   within  the  province   of   Benguella, 


116     FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA 

Portuguese  authority  has  not  yet  very  much  influence  there. 
In  the  far  interior  the  perils  of  missionaries  are  of  course 
greater,  but  in  the  Western  half  of  Africa  things  are  in  this 
respect  much  better  than  in  the  Eastern  half. 

"  Senhor  Porto  has  been  very  kind  to  me.  He  is  quite  a 
gentleman.  He  has  been  trading  in  the  interior  for  over  40 
years.  He  is  now  close  on  70  years  old,  but  hale  and  strong, 
and  is  ever  planning  long  trading  journeys  for  the  future.  So 
you  see  Africa  is  not  such  a  deadly  country  after  all  to  the 
Europeans. 

"  August  I6tk,  1884. — Here  at  Bihe  we  have  a  civil  war  on 
foot  just  now.  The  greater  part  of  the  nation  is  with  the  king 
to  put  down  the  young  claimant  to  the  throne.  However, 
everyone  is  in  camp.  Even  Senhor  Porto  was  called  out,  but 
made  the  excuse  that  he  was  too  old.  I  was  at  Bailundu  at 
the  time,  else  I  might  have  been  forced  to  join  the  camp.  I 
had  left  my  gun  at  Bihe.  This  they  took,  so  if  I  am  not  fighting, 
at  least  my  artillery  is  at  work.  The  Bailundu  are  also  by  this 
time  all  on  the  war-path,  so  I  will  have  to  remain  here  until 
the  fighting  is  over  ere  I  can  get  carriers. 

"  The  work  in  which  I  have  been  most  blessed,  and  which 
has  been  most  joyous  to  me,  and  for  which  I  seem  to  have  most 
aptitude,  is  pioneer  and  out  of  the  way  work.  As  a  teacher  of 
children  I  want  aptness,  and  am  about  as  uneasy  on  the 
teacher's  chair  as  on  the  scholar's  bench  at  home.  Tins,  how- 
ever, is  not  excusable  and  ought  to  be  overcome.  Again,  with 
the  raw  savage  negro  I  get  on,  I  think,  very  well.  I  have  any 
amount  of  patience,  and  though  they  fall  out  with  me  a  dozen 
times  in  the  day  I  never  fall  out  with  them,  so  there  is  no 
quarrelling.  Because  of  this  they  call  me  many  curious  names, 
and  say,  '  Monare  !  he  wouldn't  injure  his  greatest  enemy.'  As 
the  result  of  this  policy  I  had  the  unspeakable  satisfaction  of 
seeing  the  whole  town  turned  out  to  flog  a  young  man  by 
making  him  run  the  gauntlet  between  two  long  rows  of  slim 
fellows  armed  with  stripes  of  hippo  hide.  It  was  on  my  behalf, 
but  not  at  my  suggestion.  He  charged  me  with  committing 
a  shameful  crime,  which  I  know  in  my  heart  of  hearts  cannot 
be  brought  against  me  by  anyone,  and  wanted  me  to  pay  so 
much  cloth  to  shut  his  mouth.  I  was  indignant  beyond  all 
expression,  and  drove  him  out  of  my  yard.  He  brought  the 
matter  up  before  the  headmen  who  soon  found  out  that  he  was 


FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA  117 

lying,  and  that  he  was  a  rogue  and  a  thief.  His  skin  soon 
healed  after  the  flogging,  and  he  had  the  good  sense  to  come 
and  beg  my  pardon.  I  never  saw  the  young  men  of  the  town 
go  about  the  matter  so  heartily  as  the  flogging  of  that  young 
man.  All  day  long  they  danced  about  with  their  strips  of 
hide  showing  how  nicely  they  gave  him  a  cut  over  the  back 
or  just  across  the  fleshy  part,  and  boasting  of  the  great 
things  they  would  do  to  the  next  man  who  would  dare  to 
injure  Monare. 

"  Oct.  16th,  1884. — I  do  not  think  there  is  anything  so 
essential  to  real  service  for  God  in  a  wholly  heathen  country 
as  an  entire  separation  and  devotion  to  the  work,  so  that  even 
isolation  often  has  its  advantages.  I  have  found  that  one's 
time  cannot  be  divided  and  laid  out  beforehand  as  at  home. 
Amongst  the  Barotse  I  have  risen  to,  say,  a  day  of  writing,  but 
it  turned  out  to  be  an  all-day  meeting.  At  festival  seasons  at 
Lealui  crowds  of  people  used  to  come  in  from  all  the  country 
round  ;  at  such  times  it  was,  from  morning  light  until  mid- 
night, one  constant  stream  of  people  passing  through  my 
house,  all  curious  to  see,  some  to  hear,  and  some  wanting  to 
speak  of  what  had  been  said  on  a  former  visit.  Again,  on 
making  short  trips  amongst  the  villages  I  found  the  press  of 
work  almost  unbearable  at  times,  from  pure  lack  of  strength. 
The  work  is  trying,  but  all  engrossing,  and  it  needs  one  to  be 
wholly  free  from  all  temporal  things.  At  home  the  earnest 
street  preacher  may  gather  a  few  little  children  around  him 
after  much  noise  and  singing  ;  but  in  heathen  Africa  one  is 
sometimes  glad,  in  coming  up  to  a  village,  to  hide  oneself. 
Everything  is  laid  aside  ;  the  child  toddles  out  to  the  field  to 
call  its  mother  ;  the  hunters  return  and  call  in  their  dogs  ; 
and  the  cattle  are  driven  to  their  enclosures,  that  the  herdsmen 
may  come  and  listen  to  the  white  man's  words.  The  more 
isolated  and  ignorant  the  people  the  more  eager  they  are. 
Wherever  I  was  able  to  make  the  character  of  my  errand 
known,  their  willingness,  their  intelligent  enquiry,  their  excite- 
ment even,  quite  wore  me  out. 

"  I  expected  to  have  been  back  to  such  precious  work  by 
this  time,  but  the  Good  Shepherd  knows  what  is  best  for  His 
sheep.  Meanwhile  I  have  been  getting  rid  of  some  of  my 
fever  legacies.  Ague  now  seems  to  be  a  thing  of  the  past. 
My  spleen,  which  was  so  much  swollen  that  I  could  not  lie 


118    FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA 

with  comfort  in  any  position,  is  now  almost  reduced  to  its 
proper  condition.  My  body  has  in  every  way  picked  up  in 
this  fine  healthy  country. 

"  The  languages,  though  of  course  perplexing  to  a  stranger, 
are  undoubtedly  easy,  both  in  construction  and  pronunciation. 
Speaking  as  they  do  in  fidelity  to  the  natural  law  of  euphony, 
they  are  wonderfully  accurate.  When  reducing  the  languages 
to  a  written  form,  missionaries  find  that  if  they  can  but  dis- 
cover any  grammatical  rule  it  has  almost  no  exceptions. 
African  languages  are  not  to  be  learned  at  all  correctly  by 
direct  conversation  with  the  natives.  They  are  more  accu- 
rately acquired  by  constantly  listening  to  their  conversation 
one  with  another.  Their  manner  of  conversing  with  a  European 
is  absurd  and  very  misleading.  Not  only  do  they  distort  their 
own  language  greatly,  but  they  are  constantly  using  outlandish 
sounds,  which  they  think  belong  to  the  white  man's  tongue, 
and  which  thej^  in  their  smartness  have  picked  up. 

"  Again,  if  a  European  wishes  to  be  intelligible  to  the  raw 
native  wlio  has  not  been  tutored  to  understand  the  sounds  of 
strange  longues,  he  must  remember  that  African  languages  are 
composed  not  only  of  sounds,  but  of  accentuated  sounds.  If 
he  does  not  pay  the  closest  attention  to  this,  though  he  may 
be  able  to  speak  fluently  to  the  natives  in  a  white  man's  store 
or  town,  he  will  require  a  person  to  interpret  his  words  to  a 
company  of  raw  \illagcrs.  The  Bushman's  language  goes  to 
an  extreme  in  this  respect  ;  certain  sounds  and  clicks  accented 
differently,  pitched  in  a  higher  or  lower  key,  shrill  or  deep- 
sounding,  have  all  their  different  meanings  ;  their  language 
is  consequently  very  musical.  To  hear  the  little  children 
speaking  and  laughing  in  their  play  is  often  like  listening  to 
the  tinkling  of  a  musical  box. 

"  Oct.  23rd,  1884.— Met  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sanders,  the  American 
missionaries,  to-day  at  Bailundu,  and  had  a  happy  time  with 
them.  Their  hearts  are  indeed  in  the  work  here,  and  they 
mean  to  go  on  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  It  was  soul-stirring 
to  see  them,  and  their  little  caravan,  wending  their  way  across 
the  wooded  hill  to  their  old  home  at  Bailundu,  having  been 
robbed,  plundered,  forced  to  fly  almost  for  life,  but  coming 
back  again  undaunted. 

"  The  arrival  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sanders  brought  my  study 
of  Ovimbundu  superstitions  to  a  close.    I  was  so  glad  to  see 


FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA     119 

them  that  it  did  not  dawn  upon  me  for  some  time  that  my 
clothes  were  hardly  respectable.  An  old  coat  of  Senhor  Porto's 
buttoned  up  to  my  neck  betrayed  the  fact  that  I  had  not  a 
shirt  to  my  back.  Just  then  a  young  native  came  bouncing 
along  with  a  flowing  white  shirt  on  his  back  that  Mrs.  Sanders 
recognised  as  part  of  their  stolen  belongings,  and  it  was  a  clear 
case  of  '  stand  and  deliver.'  The  shirt  came  over  his  head  and 
through  a  bath  of  soap  suds,  and  on  to  my  back,  ere  the  sun 
set  that  day. 

"  I  thought  of  waiting  at  Bailundu  until  Senhor  Porto 
came  along,  but  learning  that  he  would  be  delayed  for  some 
days  in  building  a  bridge,  I  went  on.  On  the  way  I  met  a 
company  from  the  far  interior.  They  were  not  different  from 
the  rest  of  the  people,  but  in  my  present  state  of  mind  they  were 
naturally  of  great  interest  to  me.  They  were  from  the  chief 
Msidi,  of  Garenganze,  and  had  been  sent  with  a  letter  to  the 
king's  brother-in-law,  Coimbra,  a  half-caste,  who- read  to  me 
the  letter  just  received  from  Msidi.  It  was  dated  this  year, 
was  written  in  a  wretched  sort  of  Portuguese,  possibly  by  some 
half -taught  black,  and  contained  an  earnest  appeal  that  white 
men  might  come  to  Garenganze.  I  looked  with  amazement 
on  the  piece  of  rude,  well-travelled  paper.  Of  course  it  was 
as  traders  that  he  wanted  white  men,  but  I  felt  I  had  something 
even  better  than  good  trade,  which,  if  Msidi  could  only  com- 
prehend, he  would  gladly  receive.  The  brother-in-law  was 
delighted  to  hear  of  my  proposal  to  go  thither,  and  sent  for 
a  black,  lanky  slave  from  that  part ;  he  knew  exactly  the  place 
where  Livingstone  died,  at  Ilala,  by  Lake  Bangweolo.  I  may 
yet  get  this  man  to  go  with  me,  but  the  guide  I  have  already 
employed  knows  all  the  country. 

"  Let  us  look  up  and  take  courage  ;  the  Lord  reigneth. 
Surely  he  has  taken  many  ways  to  show  me  from  the  first  His 
desire  to  guide  me  ;  He  comes  down  to  our  weak  faith,  as  He 
did  in  Gideon's  case,  and  repeats  the  signs  until  we  are  filled 
with  shame  at  our  blindness  and  tardiness.  I  think  it  is  now 
clear  that  I  mvist  seek  another  way  to  the  Batoka,  Liwanika's 
Barotse  '  dogs  '  ;  in  this  case  the  Lord  may  feed  the  '  dogs  ' 
before  the  '  children.'  I  shall  be  at  liberty,  so  far  as  I  can 
learn,  to  come  as  near  to  the  Barotse  as  possible,  and  yet 
remain  outside  their  sway  ;  and  were  I  to  go  down  among 
them  at  any  time,  I  should,  humanly  speaking,  suffer  no  harm, 


120     FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA 

having  so  many  friends  amongst  them.  I  might  be  able,  by 
going  between  both,  to  unite  these  two  great  countries,  and 
secure  a  way  for  others,  through  the  Barotse,  to  the  north, 
which  at  present,  through  jealousy,  is  shut. 

"  I  am  told  that  Garenganze  is  as  healthy  as  Bailundu  ;  if 
so,  there  is  no  fever  there  ;  one  might  hope  to  live,  and  not 
merely  exist.  I  shall  make  a  particular  request  to  each  chief 
by  the  way  to  have  a  young  man  ready  to  run  with  my  letters 
as  they  come  from  the  interior  or  the  coast,  and  think  this  plan 
would  work  in  time  of  peace.  Native  news  in  this  way  flies  like 
the  wind,  and  why  not  my  letters  ?  The  only  question  would 
be  the  amount  of  pay. 

"  The  Governor  of  Benguella  took  the  trouble  to  write  to 
Senhor  Porto  to  take  care  of  me,  and  bring  me  safely  to  the 
coast.  Perhaps  because  of  the  trouble  the  Americans  had  at 
Bailundu,  the  Governor  feared  that  I,  being  English,  might 
suffer  from  the  Bailundu,  and  bring  down  an  English  inquisition 
upon  him.  Senhor  Porto  is  my  guardian  in  the  meantime, 
and  although  I  have  been  running  about  to  my  heart's  content, 
I  fear  he  would  consider  me  ungrateful  were  I  to  go  to  Ben- 
guella before  him,  so  I  must  wait  here  for  a  couple  of  days,  as 
he  has  been  detained  on  the  road.  Strange  that  patience 
towards  the  end  of  a  journey  is  far  harder  than  patience  at  the 
beginning.  Staying  a  whole  week  here,  within  three  days  or 
so  of  the  coast,  seems  intolerable. 

"  A  Portuguese  called  to-day,  and  after  talking  for  some 
time  he  remarked  that  at  Benguella  they  were  expecting  one 
*  Padre  Arnot '  from  the  East  Coast.  He  knew  that  I  had 
come  from  the  East,  but  could  not  recognise  the  Padre.  I 
heard  him  laughing  when  I  told  him  that  I  was  the  Padre. 

"  True  and  faithful  service  is  not  thrown  away  as  the  follow- 
ing shows  :  Mr.  W.  W.  Bagster,  now  gone  home,  gave  three 
years  ago  a  Testament  to  Coimbra,  with  whom  I  am  staying, 
the  reading  of  which  touched  him,  and  Mr.  Sanders  has  since 
had  long  talks  with  him.  Coimbra  is  anxious  about  his  soul. 
Although  I  had  not  been  speaking  to  him  in  a  personal  way, 
he  took  down  his  Testament  this  morning  and  turned  to 
Mark  x.  29,  saying  to  me,  '  This  is  my  trouble.'  He  could  not 
leave  wives,  children,  houses,  and  all.  I  told  him  that  the 
Lord  did  not  ask  him  to  leave  anything,  but  to  receive,  and  that 
when  God's  love  filled  his  heart  he  would  know  by  the  power 


FROM  THE  ZAMBESI  TO  BENGUELLA    121 

of  love  how  to  serve  Him.  He  said  that  he  was  greatly  relieved, 
and  that  his  way  seemed  more  clear  ;  he  did  not  desire  any 
longer  to  live  with  more  than  one  wife,  but  he  could  not  turn 
into  the  fields  those  who  were  the  mothers  of  his  children,  nor 
put  away  his  children.  The  good  Lord  will  not  quench  the 
smoking  flax. 

"  Nov.  9ih,  1884.— At  Catumbella  at  last.  Waiting  for 
Senhor  Porto  ;  a  sharp  attack  of  dysentery  deatined  me.  I 
ate  too  freely  of  bananas.  Fortunately  Senhor  Porto  came 
along  just  then.  He  engaged  20  hammock  carriers  and  packed 
me  off  to  Benguella.  My  men  carried  me  all  that  night  down 
through  a  series  of  steep  passes  strewn  with  boulders.  Leopards 
kept  up  a  constant  barking  roar.  When  morning  broke  we 
reached  a  river  into  which  I  was  glad  to  roll  myself,  and  with 
the  cold  water  flowing  over  my  fevered  body  I  went  off  into 
a  sound  sleep  for  several  hours.  On  resuming  the  journey 
again  I  knew  I  was  better,  and  as  the  sun  grew  round  and  red 
we  came  in  sight  of  the  sea." 


CHAPTER   IX 

SOME    NATIVE    BELIEFS 

THE  following  extracts  are  from  letters  A\Titten  towards  the 
end  of  1884  concerning  the  beliefs  of  the  various  tribes 
through  whom  Arnot  had  passed  up  till  then. 
"  '  Nambi,'  the  one  great  spirit  who  made  all  and  rules  over 
all,  the  Barotse  believe  in,  but  they  look  upon  him  as  an  austere 
person,  who  only  heaps  sorrow,  death,  and  punishment  upon 
them.  All  good  that  comes  to  them  they  trace  to  the  power 
and  intercession  of  the  spirit  of  some  departed  chief  or  fore- 
father. The  idea  they  seem  to  have  is  that  those  departed 
spirits,  whom  they  worship,  have  a  sympathy  which  '  Nambi ' 
has  not,  a  sympathy  with  them  in  all  the  joys  and  sorrows 
connected  with  their  journey ings,  crops,  hunts,  cattle,  wives, 
etc.,  because  they,  while  in  the  body,  experience  the  same. 
Alas  I  they  little  know  at  what  a  cost  our  God  has  provided 
for  us,  and  for  them  too,  a  Saviour  and  High  Priest,  who  feels 
for  us  as  no  man  can  feel,  who  suffered  and  sorrowed  as  no  man 
ever  did,  and  who  yet  has  verily  a  fellow-feeling  with  us.  The 
religion  of  these  Upper-River  people  is  widely  different  from 
that  of  the  other  tribes.  It  has  been  known  to  some  that  they 
believed  in  one  supreme  God,  but  no  more  was  known  about 
them.  There  are  many  other  interesting  ceremonies  of  theirs 
connected  with  the  offering  of  oxen,  corn,  beads,  and  cloth, 
concerning  which  I  hojje  to  get  more  information.  They  have 
their  diviners,  seers,  magicians,  and  doctors,  who  work  with 
a  mass  of  beads,  human  bones,  speaking  horns,  claws  of  wild 
animals,  and  a  whole  host  of  things,  all  of  which  together  they 
call '  Lequalo,'  and  to  read  them,  so  as  to  prophesy  about  them, 
is  '  Noqualo.'  They  give  this  name  to  the  Word  of  God  and  all 
other  books  of  the  white  man.  The  only  difference  they  think, 
between  our  '  Lequalo  '  and  theirs  is  that  ours  is  a  confused 
mass  of  little  black  marks  on  paper,  and  theirs  is  surely  much 
more  sensible,  as  it  consists  of  substantial  things. 

122 


SOME   NATIVE   BELIEFS  123 

"  When  going  to  pray  the  Barotsc  make  offerings  to  the 
spirits  of  their  forefathers  under  a  tree,  bush,  or  grove,  planted 
for  the  purpose,  and  they  take  a  larger  or  smaller  offering, 
according  to  the  measure  of  their  request.  If  the  offering  be 
beer,  they  pour  it  upon  the  ground ;  if  cloth,  it  is  tied  to  a  horn 
stuck  in  the  ground ;  if  an  ox  be  slaughtered,  the  blood  is  poured 
over  this  horn,  which  is,  in  fact,  their  altar. 

"  The  tribes  we  have  passed  through  (from  the  Zambesi  to 
the  Kuito)  seem  to  have  one  common  religion,  if  it  can  be  called 
by  that  name.  They  say  there  is  one  Great  Spirit  who  rules 
over  all  the  other  spirits ;  but  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  they  worship 
and  sacrifice  to  the  spirits  of  ancestors,  and  have  a  mass  of 
fetish  medicines  and  enchantments.  The  hunter  takes  one 
kind  of  charm  Math  him,  and  the  warrior  another.  For  divining 
they  have  a  basket  filled  with  bones,  teeth,  finger  nails,  claws, 
seeds,  stones  and  such  like  articles  which  are  rattled  by  the 
diviner  till  the  spirit  comes  and  speaks  to  him  by  the  movement 
of  these  things.  When  the  spirit  is  reluctant  to  be  brought  up 
a  solemn  dirge  is  chanted  by  the  people.  All  is  attention  while 
the  diviner  utters  a  string  of  short  sentences  in  different  tones, 
which  are  repeated  after  him  by  the  audience. 

"  These  professional  diviners  are  no  doubt  smart  fellows, 
arch  rogues  though  they  be.  The  secret  of  their  art  lies  in  con- 
stant repetition  of  every  possibility  in  connection  with  the  dis- 
aster they  are  called  upon  to  explain,  until  they  finally  hit  upon 
that  which  is  in  the  minds  of  their  clients.  As  the  people  sit 
around  and  repeat  the  words  of  the  diviner  it  is  easy  for  him  to 
detect  in  their  tone  of  voice,  or  to  read  in  their  faces,  the  sus- 
pected source  of  the  calamity.  A  man  whom  I  knew  had  a 
favourite  dog  which  was  attacked  one  night  by  a  leopard,  but 
succeeded  in  escaping  with  one  of  its  eyes  torn  out.  To  ascer- 
tain the  reason  of  this  calamity  the  owner  sent  across  the  Valley 
to  call  one  of  these  diviners.  When  the  man  arrived  he  was  told 
that  a  disaster  had  befallen  my  acquaintance,  and  was  asked  to 
find  out  by  divination  what  it  was.  Beginning  in  the  morning, 
he  enquired  respecting  the  man's  family,  without  mentioning 
their  names.  All  the  members  of  the  family  and  their  connec- 
tions, male  and  female,  young  and  old,  at  home  or  absent,  were 
carefully  gone  over.  Not  getting  any  clue,  he  left  the  relatives, 
and  came  to  the  oxen,  questioning  the  spirits  concerning  them  ; 
but  still  receiving  no  reply  through  the  fragments,  which  he 


124  SOME   NATIVE   BELIEFS 

continually  shook  in  his  basket,  he  next  enquired  about  the 
goats.  This  was  not  satisfactory,  and  at  last  he  thought  of  the 
dog.  In  the  faces  and  tone  of  voice  of  his  audience  it  was  not 
difficult  to  discern  that  he  had  hit  the  mark,  and  after  hours  of 
dreary  waiting  his  oracular  utterance,  obtained,  of  course,  from 
the  bones  and  claws,  that  something  had  befallen  the  dog, 
seemed  to  come  as  a  relief.  He  now  asked  if  the  dog  was  dead  ; 
then  if  it  was  stolen ;  then  if  it  was  wounded  !  Slyly  reading 
the  response  in  their  countenances,  he  said, '  Yes,  it  is  wounded.' 
Follo■\^^ng  up  the  trail  he  touched  upon  all  possibilities  that 
occurred  to  him,  his  audience  mechanically  repeating  his  ques- 
tions, till  at  last  he  demanded  of  the  spirit,  '  Was  it  a  leopard  ?  ' 
All  the  company  roused  up  as  they  echoed,  '  Was  it  a  leopard  ?  ' 
while  they  cast  a  knowing  look  of  satisfaction  at  one  another. 
'  Yes  !  '  the  diviner  replied,  '  it  v/as  a  leopard.'  Then  all  present 
shouted,  '  It  was  a  leopard.'  But  that  was  not  enough.  The 
cause  of  the  disaster  had  to  be  traced  still  further  back.  What 
demon  so  possessed  this  particular  leopard  that  it  should  attack 
the  dog  of  this  wealthy  man  ?  So  other  questions  had  to  be 
asked,  and  the  same  process  was  continued.  At  last,  towards 
evening,  the  di\'iner  arrived  at  the  same  conclusion  that  the 
owner  of  the  dog  had  come  to  early  that  morning  on  hearing 
of  the  accident  to  his  dog,  namely,  that  the  spirit  of  the  father 
of  one  of  his  wives  had  been  grieved  at  the  man's  long  absence 
from  his  town  and  family,  and  employed  the  leopard  to  tear 
the  dog's  eye  as  a  gentle  reminder  that  it  was  time  he  should 
be  going  back  to  his  own  village. 

"  I  have  detailed  the  foregoing  incident  at  some  length  to 
give  some  idea  of  the  measure  of  religious  enlightenm.ent  that 
these  poor  people  have.  Yet  among  all  those  tribes  there  is  an 
open  door  for  a  messenger  of  the  Gospel.  Every  time  I  have 
been  able  to  gain  their  ear,  unhindered  by  any  quarrel,  they 
have  showTi  much  interest  and  delight,  and  have  acknowledged 
that  they  are  living  in  darkness,  and  in  ignorance  of  the  great 
Spirit  who  rules  over  all. 

"  In  Chikulu's  yard  (Chikulu  is  the  chief  of  the  Bailundu) 
there  is  a  small,  roughly  cut  image,  which,  I  believe,  represents 
the  spirit  of  a  forefather  of  his.  One  day  a  man  and  woman  came 
in  and  rushed  up  to  this  image,  dancing,  howling,  and  foaming 
at  the  mouth,  apparently  mad.  A  group  gathered  round  and 
and  declared  that  the  spirit  of  Chikulu's  forefather  had  taken 


SOME   NATIVE  BELIEFS  125 

possession  of  this  man  and  woman,  and  was  about  to  speak 
through  them.  At  last  the  '  demon  '  began  to  grunt  and  groan 
out  to  poor  Chikulu,  who  was  doAvn  on  his  knees,  that  he  must 
hold  a  hunt,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  to  be  given  to  the 
people  of  his  town  ;  must  kill  an  ox,  provide  so  many  large 
pots  of  beer,  and  proclaim  a  grand  feast  and  dance.  Further- 
more all  this  was  to  be  done  quickly.  The  poor  old  man 
was  thoroughly  taken  in,  and  in  two  days'  time  the  hunt  was 
organised. 

"  Thus  I  find,  as  amongst  the  Barotse,  that  divining  and 
prophesying,  with  other  religious  and  superstitious  means  are 
resorted  to,  in  order  to  secure  private  ends,  and  to  offer  sacrifice 
to  the  one  common  god,  the  belly.  The  more  I  see  of  them,  the 
more  I  am  persuaded  that  they  have  no  other  god,  and  this  I 
tell  them  continually. 

"  At  another  time  a  man  came  to  Senhor  Porto's  to  buy  an  ox. 
He  said  that  some  time  ago  he  had  killed  a  relation  by  witch- 
craft to  possess  himself  of  some  of  his  riches,  and  that  now  he 
must  sacrifice  an  ox  to  the  dead  man's  spirit,  which  was 
troubling  him.  This  killing  by  witchcraft  is  a  thing  most 
sincerely  believed  in  ;  and  on  hearing  this  man's  cold  blooded 
confession  of  what  was  at  least  the  intent  of  his  heart,  it  made 
me  understand  why  the  Barotse  put  such  demons  into  the  fire. 

"  Among  the  Ovimbundu,  old  and  renowned  witches  are 
thro^vn  into  some  river,  though  almost  every  man  will  confess 
that  he  practises  witchcraft  to  avenge  himself  of  wrong  done, 
and  to  punish  his  enemies.  One  common  process  is  to  boil 
together  certain  fruits  and  roots,  with  which  the  ■wizard  daubs 
his  body,  in  order  to  enlist  the  aid  of  the  demons,  and  the  decoc- 
tion is  then  throwai  in  the  direction  of  the  victim,  or  laid  in  his 
path,  that  he  may  be  brought  under  the  bewitching  spell. 

"  These  West  Africans  have  not  that  attachment  to  other 
members  of  their  own  tribe  which  is  seen  among  the  Zulu, 
the  Bechuana,  and  even  the  Zambesi  tribes,  where  each  man 
is  his  neighbour's  brother.  Here  they  live  to  bite  and  devour 
one  another.  The  most  trival  mistake  or  breach  of  etiquette 
is  a  crime,  and  has  to  be  paid  for  dearly.  A  man  who  acci- 
dentally knocked  over  a  small  pot  of  fat  was  fined  thirty  shil- 
lings' worth  of  beeswax.  A  stranger  passing  through  the 
country  is  hable  to  be  entrapped  into  paying  heavy  fines.  If 
a  slave  steals,  say  a  few  ears  of  corn  out  of  a  garden,  he  is 


126  SOME   NATIVE   BELIEFS 

seized,  and  if  not  redeemed  by  his  master's  paying  a  large  com- 
pensation, he  is  at  once  sold. 

"  Death  is  surrounded  by  many  strange  and  absurb  super- 
stitions. It  is  considered  essential  that  a  man  should  die  in 
his  own  country,  if  not  in  his  own  town.  On  the  way  to  Bail- 
undu,  shortly  after  leaving  Bihe  territory,  I  met  some  men 
running  at  great  speed,  carrying  a  sick  man  tied  to  a  pole,  in 
order  that  he  might  die  in  his  o\yn  country.  I  tried  to  stop 
them,  but  they  were  running  as  fast  as  their  burden  would 
allow  them  down  a  steep  rocky  hill.  By  the  sick  man's  con- 
vulsive movements  I  could  see  that  he  was  in  great  pain, 
perhaps  in  his  death  throes,  hence  the  great  haste.  If  a  Bailundu 
dies  in  Bihe,  the  Bihe  people  have  to  pay  the  Bailundu  heavily 
for  the  shameful  conduct  of  the  Bihe  demons  in  killing  a 
stranger,  and  vice  versa. 

"  When  a  man  dies  at  home  his  body  is  placed  on  a  rude 
table,  and  his  friends  meet  for  days  around  the  corpse,  drinking, 
eating,  shouting,  and  singing,  until  the  body  begins  actually  to 
fall  to  pieces.  Then  the  body  is  tied  in  a  faggot  of  poles  and 
carried  on  men's  shoulders  up  and  down  some  open  space, 
followed  by  doctors  and  drummers.  The  doctors  demand  of 
the  dead  man  the  cause  of  his  death,  whether  by  poison  or 
witchcraft,  and  if  by  the  latter,  who  was  the  witch  ?  Most 
of  the  deaths  I  have  known  of  in  negro-land  were  from  pulmon- 
ary diseases,  but  all  were  set  dovm.  to  \dtchcraft.  The  jerking 
of  the  bier  to  and  fro,  causing  the  men  bearing  it  to  stumble 
hither  and  thither,  is  taken  as  the  dead  man's  answer ;  thus, 
as  in  the  case  of  spirit  rapping  at  home,  the  reply  is  spelled 
out.  The  result  of  this  enquiry  is  implicitly  believed  in,  and, 
if  the  case  demands  it,  the  witch  is  drowned.  There  might  be 
some  reason  for  their  superstition  if  the  dead  body  were  laid 
upon  the  ground  and  allowed  to  jerk  itself ;  but  to  put  the 
corpse  on  the  shoulders  of  six  drunken  men,  and  to  say  that 
the  jerking  and  stumbling  are  caused  by  the  inanimate  body 
is  so  thoroughly  ridiculous  that  one  cannot  imagine  how  it 
ever  entered  the  minds  of  men  to  judge  and  condemn  their 
fellow  creatures  by  such  a  process  as  this.  Compared  with  it 
the  Barotse  boiling  water  ordeal  is  reasonable.  ^'*} 

"  After  all  these  knotty  points  are  settled  the  poor  man^gets 
a  decent  burial,  but  chiefs  and  great  men  do  not  get  to  rest 
so  soon.    Their  bodies  have  been  kept  above  ground  two  years 


SOME   NATIVE   BELIEFS  127 

after  death.  When  a  chief  dies  they  at  first  say  that  he  is  sick 
or  asleep,  and  all  the  business  of  the  state  is  conducted  by  a 
man  who  sits  in  a  hut  beside  the  dead  body. 

"  The  people  have  a  great  fear  of  death,  which  they  do  not 
seem  to  look  upon  as  a  certainty,  and  as  the  natural  end  of  life. 
At  least  to  say  so  in  conversation  gives  offence.  They  would 
fain  believe  that  death  is  a  mishap,  an  evil  brought  about  by 
fetish  agencies ;  but  for  which,  man  would  be  immortal.  Conse- 
quently, all  their  so-called  rehgious  observances  and  charms  are 
meant  to  counteract  the  influence  of  these  evil  fetishes  by  other 
fetishes.  Before  starting  on  a  journey  a  man  will  spend  always 
a  fortnight  in  preparing  charms  to  overcome  evils  by  the  way, 
and  to  enable  him  to  destroy  his  enemies.  If  he  be  a  trader,  he 
desires  to  find  favour  in  the  eyes  of  chiefs,  and  a  hberal  price 
for  his  goods.  As  there  is  no  Umit  to  a  man's  fears,  supersti- 
tions, avarice,  or  hatred  of  his  enemies,  so  there  is  no  limit  to 
the  number  of  his  charms ;  and  at  the  end  of  his  journey  he  finds 
himself  loaded  with  such  things,  sown  into  belts  and  hung  in 
little  horns  around  his  neck. 

"  As  to  the  articles  used  in  the  composition  of  charms,  I 
may  say  that  everything  under  the  sun  is  used.  I  have  been 
told  here  that  they  can  turn  the  hills  into  water  with  some  of 
them,  can  make  an  ox  impervious  to  bullet  or  spear,  can  create 
a  living  lion  out  of  the  skin  of  a  dead  one,  and  can  bring  death 
or  sickness  upon  anyone. 

"  Many  half-castes  and  Portuguese  believe  strongly  in  the 
charms  of  the  Ovimbundu  tribes;  but  on  questioning  them 
closely  as  to  certain  of  the  mysterious  things  alleged  to  be  done, 
I  always  find  that  the  thing  has  happened  in  the  night  time, 
and  that  the  fetish  doctors  will  not  cast  their  charms  or  work 
miracles  at  any  other  times.  How  close  the  connection  between 
spiritual  and  literal  darkness. 

"  In  conversation  with  the  people  of  Bihe  about  the  one  true 
God  I  find  that  they  profess  to  believe  in  His  existence,  and 
say  that  there  is  and  must  be  a  great  Spirit  over  and  above  all, 
whom  they  call  Suku,  but  that  they  do  not  know  him.  They 
do  not  appear  in  any  way  to  connect  Suku  with  the  things  which 
are  daily  occurring  around  them.  I  cannot  even  say  that  they 
truly  believe  him  to  be  a  universal  God,  for  they  always  speak 
of  the  white  man  as  being  under  a  separate  set  of  gods  and 
spirits  from  themselves. 


128  SOME   NATIVE   BELIEFS 

"  Judging  according  to  human  judgment,  I  should  say  that 
the  missionary  of  the  Gospel  would  find  the  ground  here  very 
hard  indeed.  Besides  the  mass  of  superstition,  which  surpasses 
anything  I  ever  heard  of  in  Africa,  there  have  been  for  nearly 
two  centuries  many  evil  and  brutalising  influences  working 
upon  the  people,  and  few  humanising  ones.  During  all  this 
time  rum  and  the  slave  trade  have  had  full  scope.  For  the 
greater  part  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  there 
were  many  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  at  work  all  along  the 
West  Coast,  and  for  some  little  way  into  the  interior ;  but  the 
only  remaining  trace  of  them  or  tlieir  work  are  a  few  Christian 
'  relics  '  added  to  the  heap  of  native  charms,  and  here  and  there 
a  wooden  cross  standing  at  the  head  of  some  pagan's  grave, 
sharing  the  ground  with  fantastic  heathen  images  and  symbols. 
Many  thoughts  come  into  one's  mind  on  looking  upon  such  a 
scene  of  confusion.  Only  the  one  confident  assurance  that  there 
is  a  God  who  liveth  could  strengthen  the  heart  of  any  servant 
of  the  Lord  coming  to  this  part." 


CHAPTER  X 


AT    AND    AROUND     BENGUELLA 


BENGUELLA,     Nov.     lli/i.— Arrived     here    early    tliis 
morning  in  the  company  of  Senhor  Porto.     Nothing 
could    have  been   more   hearty  than  the  reception  I 
received  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter,  of  the  American  Board  of 
Missions,   and  nothing  more  delightful  to  me  than  meeting 
with  these  earnest  Christian  friends  after  my  long  exile. 

"  Nov.  12th. — Called  on  the  Governor  of  Benguella.  He  was 
very  pleasant,  inquiring  about  Africa  Central,  and  has  promised 
me  letters  to  Bihe  and  Bailundu,  guaranteeing  my  protection. 
This  he  did  because  of  the  cool  way  I  was  robbed  by  the  Bihe 
chief. 

"  Nov.  15th. — Sent  off  to  Bailundu  for  fifty  carriers  to  be  here 
on  or  about  the  10th  of  January.  Mr.  Walter  has  asked  me  to 
return  inland  as  soon  as  possible  so  as  to  give  the  missionaries 
at  Bailundu  as  much  help  as  I  can  before  I  start  for  the  interior. 

"  Nov.  16th. — Had  a  meeting  on  the  American  barque  Horace 
Scow  this  forenoon.  About  eighteen  present  in  all.  It  was  a 
great  privilege  to  have  the  opportunity  of  preaching  Christ 
once  more  in  my  own  tongue.  It  was  nearly  too  much  for  me. 
I  don't  know — it  seems  strange  to  say  it — but  to  me  it  seems  one 
of  the  hard  things  by  going  off  to  the  dark,  heathen  parts  of  the 
country,  to  give  up  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  all  its 
fullness,  as  one  can  do  to  an  intelligent  audience.  But  that  I 
fear  is  one  of  the  many  fancied  '  hard  things  '  that  we  are  too 
apt  to  fill  our  thoughts  with,  for  surely  it  is  a  higher  pri\alege 
to  be  able  to  speak  of  Him  in  places  where  His  name  has  never 
been  mentioned. 

"  Dec.  5th,  1884. — Welcome  letters  from  home  to-day. 
German  man-of-war  came  into  the  Bay  with  Prof.  Nachtigall 
on  board.  He  called  and  asked  many  questions.  Home  friends 
seem  to  be  all  in  favour  of  the  Garenganze  project.  This  is 
good.  They  are  even  reconciled  to  my  going  alone. 
I  129 


130      AT  AND  AROUND  BENGUELLA 

"  Dec.  9th. — Benguella  is  a  very  quiet,  unbusiness-like  place. 
The  Custom  House  duties  are  very  heavy  ;  they  average  25 
per  cent  on  everything,  and  this  on  the  value  of  goods  here, 
not  on  invoice  value,  so  that  all  goods  imported  are  of  necessity 
expensive.  I  should  say  that  the  place  is  unhealthy  ;  the 
Portuguese,  at  least,  consider  it  so,  as  the  most  of  their  convicts 
are  sent  here,  and  all  government  officials,  while  in  office  here, 
are  reckoned  as  serving  double  time.    It  is  not  so  at  Loanda. 

"  It  seems  as  if  the  sea  had  throwTi  up  a  sand  dyke,  forming 
the  present  shore  ;  much  of  the  country  inside  appears  to  be 
at  a  level  lower  than  the  sea ;  consequently  it  has  no  drainage. 
Fortunately,  little  rain  falls ;  even  now,  though  it  is  the  rainy 
season,  green  spots  are  only  to  be  seen  in  a  few  hollows.  The 
heat  is  very  great,  but  every  afternoon  a  fresh  breeze  comes 
off  the  sea,  which  makes  the  evenings  pleasant.  I  am  in  the 
best  of  health. 

"  May  the  Lord  be  pleased  to  look  upon  my  work  for  His 
name's  sake,  and  may  I  be  in  His  hands  like  soft  clay,  impress- 
sionable.  Surely  the  one  thing  needful  for  perfect  service  is 
that  we  be  susceptible  to  His  sympathies  and  to  the  guidings 
of  His  Spirit.  God  will  not  guide  and  lead  us  into  His  work 
unless  we  first  have  hearts  in  sympathy  with  Him  as  to  that 
work.  So  let  us  hang  and  wait  upon  God,  that  we  may  go 
forth  as  men  '  driven  of  the  Spirit.' 

"  I  had  now  to  consider  seriously  the  advisability  of  return- 
ing to  the  interior  alone,  in  case  of  no  one  coming  forward  to 
join  me.  On  that  subject  I  then  wrote  my  impressions  :  I  have 
a  growing  conviction  that  some  one  or  two  are  being  prepared 
for  the  work  here,  but  any  will  not  do  ;  excuse  my  saying  so. 
Africa  is  a  very  trying  country  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  It 
is  not  always  the  bright,  smart,  active  man  who  does  for 
Africa  ;  for  such  a  man  to  find  himself  in  the  hands  of  some 
miserable  creatures,  and  actually  made  a  plaything  of  by  them, 
would  often  be  utterly  unbearable.  To  find  that  when  he  is 
planning  to  make  a  few  days'  quicker  march,  his  men  are 
planning  a  few  days'  extra  slow  march  ;  to  have  to  deal  with 
men  who,  directly  they  think  they  have  become  indispensable, 
delight  to  exercise  the  most  cruel  tyranny  ;  to  find  oneself 
surrounded  by  lip-friends  only,  whose  hearts  are  like  drawn 
swords,  as  a  general  rule — these  are  discoveries  so  utterly 
foreign  to  first  impressions  of  the  negro  races  that  the  hearts 


AT   AND   AROUND   BENGUELLA      131 

of  many  sink  under  them.  The  white  man  who  comes  to  Africa 
thinks,  as  a  rule,  that  the  negro  looks  up  to  him  as  an  essentially 
superior  being  ;  but  let  him  hear  them  discussing  round  their 
camp  fires,  as  I  have  often  done  when  supposed  by  them  to  be 
lying  asleep,  and  he  Avill  think  differently.  Is  there  a  race  under 
the  sun  which  does  not  in  its  heart  of  hearts  believe,  '  We 
are  the  people  '  ? 

"  In  thinking  of  journeying  alone,  friends  at  home  interested 
in  this  pioneer  work  will  see  that  it  is  not  an  undue  hastening 
on  my  part.  I  must  get  my  goods  up  to  Bihe  in  time  for  a 
final  start  this  dry  season,  so  as  to  reach  and  cross  the  Lovale 
flats  near  the  sources  of  the  Zambesi,  before  they  are  flooded. 
OtherA\ise  the  journey  would  be  much  more  difficult.  I  shall, 
God  willing,  first  make  for  those  high  ranges  of  mountains 
which  are  marked  in  some  maps  just  above  the  Barotse  country, 
and  shall  engage  carriers — some  I  have  already  partly  engaged 
— for  Msidi's  to^^^l,  which  is  among  the  hills  in  the  country 
called,  in  the  interior,  Garenganze.  From  the  first  I  was  very 
desirous  of  going  at  least  in  that  direction,  but  was  prevented, 
no  doubt  for  a  wise  purpose,  from  going  beyond  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  the  Zambesi  River,  as  the  Barotse  do  not 
want  any  '  good  things  '  to  go  to  the  tribes  under  their  sway. 
I  have  seen  large  companies  of  natives  from  that  part,  and  have 
many  times  conversed  with  them.  From  native  sources  in  the 
interior,  I  learn  that  the  Garenganze  is  one  of  the  most  densely 
populated  districts  of  Central  Africa.  The  people  there  are 
famed  for  the  abundance  of  their  corn,  rice,  sugar-cane,  etc., 
and  they  work  large  copper  mines,  cleansing  and  smelting  the 
copper  out  of  the  ore  in  a  very  perfect  way,  of  which  I  have 
seen  many  samples.  The  question,  whether  I  should  merely 
go  on  a  visit  to  the  chief  asking  his  permission  to  return,  or 
whether  I  should  go  prepared  to  settle,  should  the  way  be  open, 
is  one  difficult  to  decide.  If  the  simple  invitation  of  the  chief 
of  the  country  were  the  only  thing  desired,  that  might  be 
obtained  by  sending  a  messenger ;  but  nothing  counts  like  a 
personal  \'isit.  I  therefore  propose  to  go  to  the  Garenganze, 
hoping,  with  God's  help,  to  get  the  permission,  not  only  of  the 
chief  and  headmen,  but  also  of  the  people,  to  remain  among 
them.  It  is  more  and  more  evident  to  me  that  much  Christian 
diplomacy  is  required  for  the  estabhshment  and  carrying  on 
of  African  mission  work.    The  people  are  not  so  many  poor, 


132   AT  AND  AROUND  BENGUELLA 

intelligent  monkeys  ;  and  this  I  have  learned,  that,  fond  as 
they  are  of  presents,  they  are  not  to  be  bought  by  money. 
It  may,  however,  be  different  with  those  on  the  coast. 

"  Going  merely  as  a  visitor  will  not  prevent  my  remaining 
for  one  or  two  years.  It  requires  all  that  time  in  Africa  ere  the 
people  will  venture  to  say  that  they  know  you.  If  friends  at 
home  could  just  get  one  glimpse  of  the  burning  need  here,  the 
open  sore,  and  the  willingness  withal  to  hear,  they  would  sym- 
pathise with  me  a  little  in  my  desire  to  remain  as  long  as  possible 
and  at  all  cost,  providing  at  the  same  time  all  things  honestly, 
and  receiving  '  nothing  from  the  Gentiles  '  ;  for  the  moment 
one  begins  to  do  so,  he  is  branded  by  his  enemies  as  '  an  eater- 
up  of  the  people.'  The  work  of  carrying  the  gospel  to  Africa's 
millions  is  going  on,  for  it  is  the  Lord's  work,  and  it  will  go  on 
in  spite  of  any  of  us ;  but  time  is  passing,  and  I  would  say  to 
myself  and  to  others,  '  Let  us  in  all  our  service  be  prompt.  Let 
us  ever  have  our  loins  girt  for  the  ready,  speedy  carrying  out 
of  the  will  of  our  Lord.' 

"  Dec.  25th,  Christmas. — (To  his  mother.)  '  This  day  must 
not  pass  without  a  letter  to  you.  I  know  how  happy  you  will 
be  with  all  your  big  boys  at  home,  and  all  off  to  Aunty's  in  the 
afternoon.  I  don't  doubt  but  that  you  will  be  consoling  your- 
self by  thinking,  "  Well !  Fred  is  a  little  nearer  this  Christmas 
than  last,  and  that  he  wll  have  the  company  of  someone," 
etc.  But  this  is  not  so,  mother  of  mine.  I  am,  as  far  as  com- 
pany goes,  as  much  alone  this  Christmas  as  I  have  been  in  the 
last  three  spent  in  Africa.  An  English  man-of-war,  H.M.S. 
Forward,  came  down  from  Loanda,  wanted  me  and  the  Walters 
to  return  with  them  to  spend  the  "festive  season  "  with  the 
Governor- General  and  the  British  Consul  at  Loanda,  promising 
at  the  same  time  to  bring  us  back  in  a  fortnight's  time.  The 
officer-in-charge,  Lieut.  Furlonger,  had  heard  of  my  journey 
across  (it  seems  to  be  a  great  feat  in  the  eyes  of  these  men),  and 
wanted  to  be  "  at  my  service,"  took  me  on  board,  said  "  here's 
my  carpenter,  my  sailmaker,  blacksmith,  etc.,  just  say  if  you 
want  anything  done ;  could  he  make  a  tent  for  me,  etc.,  etc. 
Did  I  want  ammunition  ?  Could  give  me  some.  Anything 
from  Loanda  ?  It's  a  British  vessel,  and  we  are  quite  at  your 
service."  If  I  had  thought  he  really  meant  what  he  said,  I 
would  have  politely  asked  him  to  turn  that  big  gun  upon  that 
Customs  House,  and  then  in  a  playful  way  clear  off  a  few  of 


AT   AND  AROUND    BENGUELLA      138 

the  Portuguese  vile  institutions,  Avhisky  mills  and  millers  (the 
Custom  dues  are  awful,  20  per  cent,  the  lowest,  on  value  of 
common  things  such  as  potatoes,  40  per  cent  and  50  per  cent  on 
ordinary  things.  The  dues  on  cloth  are  more  than  the  price  at 
home).  Well  !  I  did  not  accept  of  his  invitation  to  go  to 
Loanda.  So  here  I  am  with  Dick  cooking  up  a  bit  of  soup.  I 
have  just  been  oiling  a  canvas  coat  to  make  it  waterproof,  and 
writing  "  rush  away  "  letters  promiscuously.  Not  a  single 
Portuguese  looks  in  here  unless  it  be  from  across  the  street.  I 
hear  the  distant  jingling  of  a  kirk  bell,  the  spasmodic  bowlings 
of  some  drunk,  having  his  "  merry  Christmas  "  out ;  the 
children's  voices  are  shriller ;  the  women  passing  up  and  down 
speak  in  a  more  light  and  laughing  way.  These,  and  such 
like  tokens  of  "  This  is  Christmas  Day  "  reach  my  ears  and 
eyes,  but  nothing  more.  My  heart  is  with  the  dear  home 
gathering. 

"  '  I  am  sure  you  will  have  many  anxious  thoughts  as  to  my 
future  journey.  This  time  I  go  with  my  eyes  more  open  to  all 
that  is  before  me.  If  there  was  anything  of  a  boyish  tone  of 
adventure — and  constant  exhilaration  arising  from  hearing  and 
seeing  many  new  and  strange  things — when  I  left  Natal  three 
years  ago,  I  must  confess  that  has  gone  now,  and  there  is 
nothing  new  or  novel  to  me  in  seeing  on  every  hand  constant 
exhibitions  of  a  depraved  and  superstitious  humanity ;  instead 
of  being  exhilarating  it  is  beyond  all  expression,  depressing. 
And  yet  I  can  say  from  the  depth  of  my  heart  at  no  time  have 
I  felt  more  enthusiastic  about  any  journey  than  now.  I  am 
sure  you  do  acknowledge  and  thank  the  Lord  ^vith  me  for  the 
truly  gracious  way  in  which  He  has  been  pleased  to  display 
His  good  will  towards  me  in  this  country. 

"  '  It  is  a  long  time  since  I  thought  of  this  country,  and  some- 
times, even  yet,  I  wonder  if  it  is  not  a  dream.  Is  the  long,  long 
desire  of  heart  accomplished  ?  I  scarcety  ever,  as  far  back  as 
my  memory  takes  me,  opened  a  book,  or  watched  a  tradesman 
at  his  work,  \^dthout  the  thought  ever  being  in  my  mind,  "  Will 
this  be  of  use  for  Africa  ?  I  must  remember  that  for  Africa." 
So  that  I  find  all  those  old  things  turning  up  continuously. 

"  '  True  I  am  labouring  under  a  disadvantage  in  being  alone, 
but  it  may  be  to  the  advantage  of  the  work  that  I  go  forward 
alone,  and  make  proper  search  and  arrangements  for  a  station. 
As  Mr.  G.  says  I  would  not  have  been  altogether  justified  in 


134   AT  AND  AROUND  BENGUELLA 

starting  out  from  home  Avithout  a  companion,  but  since  I  lost 
him  I  can  only  wait  patiently  on  the  Lord's  time. 

"  '  I  have  an  impression  that  it  would  be  good  for  the  work, 
and  for  the  success  of  the  Gospel,  in  the  heart  of  one  of  these 
faraway  African  tribes,  that  such  a  one  should  be  married  to 
a  devoted  Christian  woman.  I  am  persuaded  more  and  more 
that  it  requires  gentlest  things  to  overcome  roughest  things. 
The  African's  mode  of  lining  is  purely  and  intensely  pastoral, 
the  people  are  at  the  best  scattered.  They  are  shepherds 
and  cattle  herds.  They  are  hunters,  and  cultivators  of  the 
ground.  Markets  or  places  of  public  meeting,  unless  it  be  a 
king's  court,  are  not  native  to  them.  They  love  to  be 
scattered  up  and  down  in  clumps  of  little  villages.  Now 
imagine  one  or  two  young  men  in  the  centre  of,  or  close  by, 
one  of  these  clumps  of  family  villages,  surrounded  by  native 
family  life  in  a  way  one  would  never  dream  of  at  home,  the  only 
steady  residents  being  a  few  old  men,  women  and  children,  and 
boys  under  ten.  All  the  rest  go  and  come ;  they  go  off  on  a 
hunt,  a  raid  or  a  trading  excursion.  Now  a  single  man  remain- 
ing behind,  if  he  wants  to  behave  himself  discreetly,  according 
to  native  law,  will  keep  rigidly  within  his  own  yard  on  such  an 
occasion,  and  only  converse  with  the  old  men  ;  to  do  ought  else 
would  be  a  breach  of  etiquette.  When  the  husbands  are  at 
home  of  course  he  can  speak  freely  to  all.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
he  were  a  married  man,  he,  as  well  as  his  wife,  would  have 
access  at  all  times  to  every  one.  Because  of  this,  with  many 
other  things  of  a  more  serious  nature,  I  have  been  persuaded 
that  it  would  be  a  mistake  for  another  to  come  out  single  as  I 
am.  Not  that  I  can  say  I  feel  I  have  made  a  mistake  in  doing 
so  ;  on  the  contrary,  so  long  as  I  am  engaged  in  the  present 
department  of  the  work,  that  is  prospecting,  I  could  not  be 
better  than  the  way  I  am.  But  I  see  clearly  two  sides  or  two 
divisions  in  the  work  :  first,  the  prospecting  and  travelling 
part;  secondly,  the  "doing  of  the  work  of  the  evangelist." 
In  the  meantime  I  am  bound  to  the  first,  and  for  some  time  at 
least  would  have  to  remain  in  that  capacity  more  or  less,  bring- 
ing in  supplies,  and,  as  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  sends  forth 
labourers,  from  time  to  time.  For  the  second  division  I  could 
not  think  of  any  more  fit  than  a  married  couple.  The  members 
of  this  American  Mission  have,  I  understand,  sent  home  word 
to  their  Society,  "  not  to  send  out  any  more  missionaries  un- 


AT   AND    AROUND   BENGUELLA      135 

married."  An  African  can  understand  an  unmarried  man  travel- 
ling among  them,  but  not  living  among  them.  It  is  in  many 
places  against  native  law.  Some  of  my  enemies  at  the  Barotse 
(magicians  and  doctors)  brought  this  up  against  me,  and  the 
question  was  put  to  the  king  in  open  court,  and  had  not  the 
king  waived  the  law  and  decided  in  my  favour,  I  could  have 
been  legally  driven  out  of  the  country.  He,  however,  first  of 
all  tried  all  he  could  to  persuade  me  to  marry  among  them,  mth 
offers  of  rich  presents  of  land  and  cattle  and  slaves  and  a 
princess.  I  thought  then  that  I  would  have  to  lift  my  luggage 
and  go,  but  the  matter  was  overruled  in  my  favour.' 

"  Jan.  \st,  1885. — The  first  day  of  the  so-called  New  Year 
receives  notice  generally  and  I  suppose  ought  to  be  honoured 
by  at  least  a  few  lines  in  all  well-conducted  journals.  The  word 
has  passed  men's  mouths,  '  The  old  year  is  dead  !  '  Only  in 
point  of  time,  however.  The  deeds  of  last  year,  as  seeds,  will 
order  the  harvest  of  this  year's  reaping  for  most  men.  The  old 
year  is  not  dead.    It  has  yet  to  live. 

"  Jan.  Uh. — Just  heard  from  Mr.  Sanders  that  50  carriers 
are  about  to  start  for  me  and  will  be  here  in  10  days  or  so.  I 
have  only  11  loads  ready  for  them.  My  hope  is  in  God.  He 
hath  said  those  that  put  their  trust  in  Him  shall  not  be  put  to 
shame. 

"  Jan.  17th. — News  has  just  come  in  of  an  outbreak  at 
Caconda  (12  days  W.S.W.  from  here)  against  Portuguese 
authority.  About  200  coloured  Portuguese  soldiers  are  there 
at  present,  or  on  the  road,  with  two  small  field  pieces. 

"  Jan.  20th. — In  this  country  one  learns  to  wait.  In  fact 
this  whole  country,  when  one  compares  it  with  what  one  hears 
of  the  busy  outside  world,  seems  to  be,  and  has  been,  in  a 
waiting  condition  from  the  beginning  of  time,  like  a  high  sand- 
bank, the  last  to  be  carried  by  the  waters  of  a  rushing,  swelling 
stream.  Europe  has  been  a  sort  of  human  volcano,  every  now 
and  then  bursting  out  and  sending  off  streams  of  human  lava 
to  cover  the  earth.  North  and  South  America  are  well  occupied, 
and  it  seems  to  me  that  it  will  only  be  a  question  of  a  few  years 
ere  the  tide  be  turned  towards  Central  Africa.  I  am  persuaded 
that  a  richer  country  in  minerals,  woods  and  water,  is  not  to 
be  found.  And  the  great  mass  of  the  interior  country  is 
healthy. 

"  Jan.  22,nd. — This  afternoon  carriers  arrived  for  me.     Mr. 


136   AT  AND  AROUND  BENGUELLA 

Sanders  had  only  got  them  with  difficulty.  When  one  considers 
how  some  80  loads  belonging  to  Sen.  Porto  lie  at  Bailmidu  for 
want  of  carriers,  and  how  trade  here  has  suffered  so  much 
because  the  people  of  the  interior  are  afraid  to  come  down 
because  of  the  war  with  Caconda,  it  is  quite  a  surprise  that  I 
should  get  men  now. 

"  Feb.  3rd,1885. — I  started  on  Jan.  27th,  on  my  return  journey 
to  Bihe,  with  twenty-five  porters.  They  are  all  in  good  spirits, 
and  seem  to  be  quite  a  respectable  lot.  I  slept  one  night  at 
Catumbella  with  the  agent  of  a  Dutch  house,  and  after  crossing 
about  20  miles  of  rough  country,  reached  the  foot  of  the  Esupwa 
Pass.  The  road  mnds  through  very  rugged  places,  betAveen 
large  boulders  with  high  mountains  on  either  side.  We  reached 
the  top  of  this  rugged  ascent  yesterday  and  camped  by  the 
Olombingo  Hill,  the  double  top  of  which  is  quite  a  landmark 
for  many  miles  east  and  west.  I  put  up  my  tent,  which  I  had 
made  during  my  stay  at  Benguella,  to-day  for  the  first  time. 
It  looked  much  trimmer,  and  was  more  easily  put  up  than  I 
expected.  The  plan  of  it  is  a  simple  ridged  tent,  the  roof  shed 
comes  to  18  inches  from  the  ground,  then  a  short  wall  falls. 
The  ridge  pole  which  I  carry  with  me  is  a  tepoia  pole  which  I  can 
use  in  the  daytime  for  my  hammock  if  I  require  to  be  carried. 
At  night,  when  setting  up  the  tent,  all  that  is  wanted  is  two 
forked  sticks,  7  feet  long,  stuck  in  the  ground  outside  of  the 
tent  measurements.  The  ridge  is  placed  on  these,  and  the  tent 
is  thrown  over  and  pegged  down  on  each  side. 

"  Feb.  Mh. — We  reached  Chivulu,  where  there  is  an  indepen- 
dent native  ruler.  As  I  had  to  communicate  Avith  this  town,  I 
sent  him  a  present  of  fifteen  yards  of  calico,  which  was  accepted 
as  toll  money.  At  Chivanda,  a  little  further  on,  another  in- 
dependent ruler  also  accepted  a  similar  present. 

"  Feb.  8th. — Arrived  at  Ohumbe,  on  the  borders  of  the 
Bailundu  country.  Most  of  my  men  belonged  to  this  district, 
so  I  had  to  remain  here  as  their  guest  for  some  days.  They  took 
me  to  their  village,  on  the  top  of  a  high  hill  overlooking  an 
immense  stretch  of  country,  and  entertained  me  to  the  best  of 
their  ability  with  fowls,  goats,  and  meal.  Too  much  of  such 
kindness,  however,  was  rather  embarrassing,  as  I  was  anxious 
to  proceed  on  my  journey  to  Bihe  ;  so  on  the  10th  I  succeeded 
with  much  difficulty  in  arousing  my  porters  out  of  their  houses, 
and  managed  to  make  a  short  march  in  the  afternoon.    Two 


AT   AND   AROUND    BENGUELLA      137 

daj's  brought  me  to  Chilumc,  where  I  found  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Sanders  in  good  spirits.  Here  I  paid  off  my  Ohumbe  men, 
intending  to  collect  a  fresh  company  of  porters  to  take  me  on 
to  Bihe. 

"  Feb.  26th. — Sent  on  letter  to  Bihe  asking  for  men  to  come 
down  for  me. 

"  March  6th,  1885. — Started  from  Bailundu  vrith  30  carriers. 
These  have  been  sent  by  the  chief  of  Bihe.  I  travel  with  a 
hammock  and  four  men.  These  men  have  lots  of  news  as  to  the 
Barotse.  The  details  they  tell  me  about  the  troubles  in  that 
country  are  very  sad.  It  seems  that  at  least  four  or  five  of  my 
scholars  have  been  killed  because  of  their  relationship  to  the 
king. 

"  March  10th. — Arrived  at  Belmonte.  The  journey  has  been 
so  far  a  pleasant  one,  though  many  of  the  rivers  were  much 
swollen.  On  one  occasion,  on  crossing  one  of  them  on  the 
shoulders  of  one  of  my  men,  I  looked  down  into  the  clear 
water,  when  about  half-way  across,  and  saw  to  my  surprise 
that  the  man  was  balancing  himself  on  a  fallen  tree,  about  the 
thickness  of  a  person's  arm,  which  appeared  to  form  part  of  a 
submerged  bridge  over  the  river.  My  position  was  so  ridiculous, 
and  I  so  shook  with  laughter,  that  the  man  began  to  sway 
about,  and  finally  losing  his  balance,  we  were  both  plunged 
into  the  river,  with  the  sunken  tree  between  us.  He  stupidly 
held  on  to  my  foot  so  tenaciously  that,  but  for  a  kick  from  my 
other,  he  might  have  drowned  me.  By  swimming  I  was  able 
to  reach  the  other  side  safely. 

"  March  12th. — Having  stored  my  goods  in  Senhor  Porto's 
house,  I  invited  a  few  headmen  in  Bihe  to  visit  me  at  Belmonte, 
where  I  told  them  of  my  desire  to  proceed  to  the  interior.  There 
is  every  prospect  of  getting  plenty  of  men. 

"  March  ISth. — Walked  over  to  see  Chipongi,  the  chief  of 
Bihe.  He  at  first  professed  to  be  very  cross  at  my  coming  to 
him  without  rum.  This,  he  said,  was  an  open  act  of  rebellion 
on  my  part.  Had  he  not  ordered  that  every  one  coming  into  his 
country  should  bring  him  tribute  in  rum.  The  present  (6 
pieces  of  cloth  and  a  chair)  which  I  had  brought  him  was 
sUghted.  '  Take  it  away  !  Go  !  '  he  said.  I  only  answered 
softly,  and  thanked  him  for  returning  my  cloth.  I  said  I  was 
sorry  that  he  was  so  disappointed,  but  I  had  thought  of  giving 
him  something  better  than  fire-water.    The  cloud  soon  passed 


138   AT  AND  AROUND  BENGUELLA 

off.  He  did  not  like  to  lose  his  cloth  altogether,  and  as  the 
matter  could  not  be  remedied  he  passed  it  over  with  a  few 
bitter  grunts  when  I  had  promised  him  an  additional  50  yards 
and  a  jacket.  The  letters  that  I  had  Avith  me  were  then  read. 
The  letter  from  the  Governor- General  of  Loanda  caused  quite 
a  sensation.  The  chief  showed  me  an  official  letter  from  the 
Governor  of  Benguella  which  showed  that  Edwardo  Braza  was 
sent  by  the  Portuguese  Governor  of  Benguella  to  expel  and 
plunder  the  American  missionaries.  This  letter  closes  with  a 
prayer  that  '  God  would  protect  and  keep  the  chief  of  Bihe  in 
His  holy  guard.'  This  same  letter  also  accounts  for  the  plun- 
dering of  the  two  loads  which  were  sent  on  to  me. 

"  March  IMh. — Returned  from  visiting  the  chief  to  Porto's 
house.  The  chief  sent  a  man  with  me  for  another  piece  of 
cloth,  and  sent  me  at  the  same  time  a  good-sized  pig,  an  excel- 
lent representative  of  himself.  It  seems  that  no  justice  or 
anything  else  can  be  got  out  of  him  but  for  money.  Mr.  Sanders 
wanted  from  him  a  medical  book  worth  about  4s.  He  declarec^ 
that  although  the  book  indeed  belonged  to  Mr.  Sanders,  and 
that,  although  Mr.  Sanders  had  committed  no  offence  against 
him,  nevertheless  he  would  not  give  up  that  book  for  less  than 
a  bale  of  cloth  and  a  gun.  He  also  declared  that  if  Mr.  Sanders 
wanted  to  build  again  at  Bihe  he  must  pay  1,000,000  reis  for 
the  land.  This  was  opposed  stoutly  by  some  of  the  headmen 
who  declared  that  the  chief  could  not  sell  the  land,  and  that 
to  ask  such  a  price  for  a  book  was  ridiculous.  The  chief 
promised  to  send  a  letter  to  the  Governor- General  in  reply  to 
his.  We  shall  see  then  a  little  more  of  what  is  in  his  heart.  But 
in  truth,  though  he  makes  great  professions  as  to  his  loyalty  to 
the  Portuguese,  etc.,  and  asks  for  a  Portuguese  chief  to  come  to 
Bihe,  yet  he  has  no  other  thought  than  to  get  rum  and  cloth. 
Two  priests  are  expected  in  Bihe  in  April  and  it  seems  that  the 
chief  has  allotted  to  them  the  site  that  Mr.  Sanders  had  to  build 
on.    They  (the  priests)  have  already  sent  on  a  jar  of  whisky. 

"  March  17th. — As  I  hoped  to  receive  letters  from  home,  and 
then  to  purchase  goods  for  the  inland  journey,  I  again  started 
for  the  coast.  The  men  I  had  engaged  for  my  tepoia  demanded 
prepayment,  so  rather  than  break  the  rule  I  preferred  to  walk. 
I  had  not  gone  far,  however,  when  I  saw  the  tepoia  and  five 
men  come  trotting  after  me.  I  shall  let  them  have  the  privilege 
of  carrying  me  all  the  way. 


AT   AND   AROUND   BENGUELLA      139 

"  March  24dh. — Arrived  on  the  20th  at  Ohumbe,  where  Mr. 
Sanders  was  delighted  with  the  letters  I  brought  from  Bihe. 
Made  an  early  start  this  morning  for  the  coast,  travelled  seven 
and  a  half  hours  and  crossed  the  Keve  River.  After  all  '  the 
road  '  is  my  allotted  sphere  seemingly  in  this  life.  I  had 
planned  at  least  to  have  20  days'  rest  in  the  company  of 
Brother  Sanders  and  his  wife  at  Bailundu,  hoping  that  we 
might  at  least  become  acquainted  with  each  other. 

"  March  27th. — Met  the  mail  box  on  the  road  to-day.  Opened 
it  and  found  an  abundant  home  mail  and  was  much  cheered  by 
all  the  good  reports  of  friends  at  home.  There  seems  to  be  a 
unanimous  consent  to  my  returning  to  the  Garenganze.  Mr. 
Groves  and  Dr.  McLean  both  write.  They  warn  me  against 
forgetting  the  true  aim  and  object  of  all  my  travelling  to 
make  known  Christ,  doing  above  all  things  '  the  work  of  an 
evangelist.' 

"  April  2nd,  1885. — Arrived  in  Benguella  this  forenoon. 
Found  that  Mr.  Walter  had  taken  everything  that  had  come 
from  Scotland  for  me  out  of  the  Customs  House.  A  huge 
printing  press  is  altogether  useless  for  me.  I  never  could  take 
such  a  heavy  thing  into  the  interior  with  me.  Seventy  or  80 
men  could  not  begin  to  carry  it  away.  Two  Westley-Richard 
carbines,  a  magic-lantern,  a  Bible,  some  clothing,  cotton  cloth, 
and  a  few  books  were  very  acceptable. 

''^  April  7th. — The  Lord  graciously  delivered  me  of  the  care 
of  the  printing  press.  I  was  in  a  dilemma  this  morning  to 
know  -what  to  do  with  it,  intending  to  find  storage  for  it  some- 
where in  town,  when  a  most  unexpected  offer  of  purchase  came 
from  a  man  who  did  not  even  know  Mr.  Walter  or  I  had  a  press 
for  sale,  but  thought  the  former  would  get  him  one  from 
America.  After  a  little  bargaining  he  bought  it  for  £15,  and 
the  type  for  £17.  With  this  money  I  will  be  able  to  buy  a 
much  more  satisfactory  thing. 

"  I  shall  be  most  eager  for  a  copy  of  the  Revised  Bible.  If 
you  send  it  through  the  mail  it  will  reach  me  at  Bihe — a  small 
print  edition.  It  will  be  a  great  pleasure  to  me  looking  over 
every  passage  during  the  weary  months  of  travelling.  I  shall 
wait  an  extra  month  at  Bihe  so  as  to  get  it. 

"  April  8th. — I  write  to  a  friend  at  home  as  follows  : 

"  '  In  yours  of  January  30th,  you  speak  of  two  points,  about 
which  you  are  exercised,  in  connection  with  my  work  in  Africa. 


140   AT  AND  AROUND  BENGUELLA 

I  could  not  think  of  starting  on  such  a  journey  as  is  before  me, 
planning  to  return  within  a  certain  time,  or  intending  to  move 
about  in  an  aimless  manner.  My  earnest  hope  and  prayer  to 
God  is,  that  He  will  lead  me  among  a  people  for  whom  He  has 
a  present  message.  To  a  great  extent  my  work  may  only  be 
preparing  for  others  to  enter  in.  Three  years  ago,  while  at  the 
Zambesi,  I  had  no  other  desire  than  to  remain  there.  My  ways, 
however,  are  in  God's  hands.  I  am  still  ready  to  go  back 
again  to  the  Barotse  if  I  get  the  slightest  indication  that  the 
field  is  open  there,  but  it  seems  as  if  it  were  not.  This 
Garenganze  route  appears  to  be  the  one  for  my  return  into 
the  interior,  and  I  start  on  it  with  joy  and  gladness,  not  know- 
ing that  I  shall  ever  reach  that  place,  nor  what  may  be  found 
for  me  to  do  by  the  way.  I  can  say  honestly  that  I  have  no 
plan  to  follow  out,  but  am  fully  persuaded  that  it  is  necessary 
to  remain  in  some  place,  so  that  one's  message  may  be  rightly 
known  and  understood.  Whether  that  place  be  the  Garen- 
ganze, or  somewhere  short  of  it,  God  knoweth.  I  trust  He 
will  guide  me,  and  I  earnestly  entreat  special  prayer  for  this. 

"  '  Ere  you  receive  this  letter  I  hope  to  have  left  Benguella. 
I  have  enough,  according  to  human  foresight,  to  provide  all 
things  honestly,  and  all  things  necessary,  for  two  years  to  come. 
For  this  I  heartily  thank  our  God.  May  I  hold  all  as  His, 
seeking  grace  to  spend  every  yard  of  calico  to  profit,  and  to  His 
glory.  I  purpose  starting  from  Bihe  with  about  forty  loads 
— a  very  small  caravan  for  Africa,  as  the  usual  number  of 
carriers  is  about  200  or  300.' 

"  May  6th,  1885. — In  writing  to  Dr.  McLean  to-day  I  refer 
to  my  letter  of  Jan.  2nd,  inserted  in  the  April  Echoes  of  Service 
and  add  :  '  In  the  present  frame  of  my  mind  I  have  a  horror  of 
doing  anything  in  the  future  calculated  to  bring  upon  me  the 
world's  easily  deluded  gaze.  I  have  an  instinctive  feeling  that 
the  moment  I  pass  from  the  ranks  of  the  humble  unknown  and 
little-heard-of  missionary  band,  who  are  known  only  to  the 
spiritual  and  the  godly,  and  whose  prayers  are  better  than  gold 
to  me — the  moment  I  say  I  pass  from  among  these — and  enter 
amongthe  known  and  recognised  by  journalist  and  pamphleteers, 
I  shall  feel  as  a  child  removed  from  the  warm  hearth  of  a 
cottage  home  to  the  richer  but  colder  boards  of  a  charity  house. 
My  full  persuasion  is  that  if  work,  real  work  for  God,  is  to  be 
carried  on  at  all  in  this  country  it  must  be  done  more  and  more 


AT   AND    AROUND   BENGUELLA      141 

in  the  spirit  of  quietness  and  prayer.  Anything  approaching 
to  ostentatiousness  in  me  or  in  my  letters  I  trust  will  be  care- 
fully watched  for  and  rebuked  by  those  who  receive  them ;  and 
that  all  who  may  seek  to  join  in  this  blessed,  blessed  work  be 
exhorted  much  to  avoid  the  very  appearance  of  presuming  to 
be  anything,  or  of  being  numbered  among  the  numbers  of 
missionaries.' 

"  May  10th. — Mr.  Sanders  writes  from  Bailundu  that  the 
Balunda  have  returned  from  their  three  years'  campaign.  The 
result  of  the  final  raid  was  disaster,  seemingly,  and  in  a  fit  of 
disappointment  the  chief  picked  a  quarrel  with  a  friendly 
village  and  took  about  20  captives  and  a  handful  of  cattle 
away.  Twenty-five  men  will  be  down  for  me  in  a  few  days, 
so  I  shall  get  a  start  soon  on  the  long  journey. 

"  May  I9th.—The  need  that  I  feel  of  God's  very  help  in  this 
journey  seems  to  press  upon  me  as  a  heavy  load.  I  cannot  pray, 
nor  read,  nor  receive  strength  from  the  Word  as  at  other  times. 
Still  I  feel  a  calm  peace,  as  in  the  presence  of  a  covenant  sealed 
by  the  immutable,  unchangeable  One  ;  the  presence  of  Him  who 
only  is.  The  material  part  of  the  journey  gives  me  little  concern. 
It  is  returning  again  into  the  midst  of  the  dark  heathen  country 
as  a  bearer  for  the  first  time  in  many  parts  of  the  name  of 
Christ.  And  believing  that  the  Lord  willingly  makes  use  of 
the  least  of  things  and  services  for  the  spreading  abroad  of  the 
knowledge  of  His  name,  my  prayer  and  burden  is,  that  the 
least  impression  made  upon  those  people,  the  faintest  remem- 
brance that  anyone  may  retain  of  me  as  I  pass  along,  by  means 
of  a  look,  a  kind  touch,  a  word,  a  something,  though  they  know 
it  not,  may  savour  of  Christ. 

"  May  23rd. — No  word  of  my  carriers  yet,  making  me  some- 
what impatient  these  last  few  days.  But  why  should  I  feel  so  ? 
The  only  way  to  explain  the  impatience  of  one  professedly  set 
out  to  do  the  Lord's  work  is  that  he  hath  in  his  heart  some  selfish 
end  in  view,  some  plan  which  is  purely  his  own,  which  causes 
him  to  be  impatient.  For  the  time  for  the  accomplishment  of 
our  own  plan  '  is  always  ready,'  but  the  Lord's  time  is  definite 
and  perfect.  For  He  who  '  hath  appointed  the  day  in  which  He 
will  judge  the  world,'  He  who  knew  of  '  that  hour,'  the  culmin- 
ating point,  '  the  fulness  of  time,'  worketh  by  no  other  rule  in 
the  little  and  seemingly  insignificant  ordering  of  our  daily  lives. 
At  times  I  have  great  and  strong  convictions  of  this.    At  other 


142   AT  AND  AROUND  BENGUELLA 

times  my  carnal  impatience  of  delay,  and  restlessness,  show  me 
how  much  there  is  of  selfish  aim  and  interest  in  all  I  do. 

"  May  28th. — Twice  within  these  few  daj^s  the  Lord  has  been 
pleased  to  answer  special  prayer.  On  Monday  I  asked  Him  to 
persuade  a  man  to  pay  me  17,000  reis  he  owed  me  as  balance 
of  price  of  press.  I  was  indeed  in  sheer  need  of  the  money  to 
meet  my  running  expenses.  The  answer  came  in  six  hours' 
time  and  after  a  delay  of  two  months  since  the  former  part 
payment.  He  brought  the  money  without  my  having  reminded 
him  of  the  debt  for  some  time.  Again,  last  night  I  gave  vent  to 
long  waiting,  and  expecting  the  arrival  of  my  carriers,  in  prayer 
asking  the  Lord  to  consider  my  weakness  and  send  them 
speedily.  This  morning  the  tailor  close  by  called  me  into  his 
shop  to  tell  me  that  the  men  I  was  waiting  for  had  arrived  at 
Catumbella,  nine  miles  off.  Is  there  anything  too  small  for 
our  bringing  to  Him  ?  Does  He  not  by  His  '  gentleness  '  tempt 
us  to  trust  Him  wholly. 

"  May  31st. — My  carriers  came  do\ra  to-day." 


CHAPTER  XI 

A    START   FROM    BENGUELLA 

BENGUELLA,  June  2nd,  1885.— In  taking  farewell  of 
the  coast  once  more,  many  thoughts  of  all  across  the 
ocean  occupy  me,  and  I  feel  as  if  I  were  leaving  you 
all  again.  But  with  God's  help  I  can  say,  these  things  do  not 
move  me.  Indeed,  never  have  I  felt  such  a  strong  desire  to  be 
back  again  to  my  happy  life  and  work  in  the  distant  parts 
of  this  country.  Until  the  last  Liverpool  steamer  came  in,  two 
weeks  ago,  I  had  a  silent  hope  that  someone  might  yet  come 
to  join  me  in  this  journey.  Loath  as  I  am  to  invite,  or  even 
to  encourage  anyone  to  do  so,  I  firmly  believe  that  the  right 
person  will  come  in  the  right  time.  The  longer  I  wait,  and  the 
more  I  cast  the  matter  entirely  upon  God,  the  more  assurance 
I  get  of  His  perfect  ordering,  and  the  more  strength  and  joy 
He  gives  me  in  my  position  here." 

Arnot  left  Benguella  on  June  3rd  and  arrived  at  Bailundu 
on  the  16th.  The  journey  from  the  coast  was  uneventful. 
He  was  delayed,  however,  at  Bailundu  until  August  24th, 
but  the  time  was  not  lost.  He  profited  not  a  little  by  the 
company  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sanders  who  assisted  him  in  the 
study  of  the  Umbundu  language.  The  journal  and  letters 
continue  : 

"  August  20th,  1885. — A  long  day's  walking  brought  me  to 
Dungeunga's  town  where  I  shall  have  to  wait  a  day  or  two. 
The  time  between  the  day  I  first  met  Mr.  Sanders  at  Chilume 
(Bailundu)  and  my  taking  leave  of  him  at  the  same  place 
looks  like  a  last  night's  dream.  The  happy  fellowship  of 
believers,  the  monthl}^  communications  with  home,  are  all  past 
and  I  am  back  again  to  my  normal  condition  with  my  face 
turned  toward  the  lonely  far-off  interior.  I  rejoice  that  it  is 
for  Christ's  sake  I  go.  Surely  our  Lord's  service,  the  privilege 
of  running  even  the  least  of  His  errands,  is  worthy  to  be  pre- 
ferred as  our  chief  joy.     And  will  He  not,  in  His  boundless 

143 


144        A   START  FROM   BENGUELLA 

compassion,  give  us  daily  and  hourly  the  needed  strength  and 
heart  comfort. 

"  Aug.  22nd. — I  feel  very  comfortable  and  easy  now  when 
travelling.  Before,  when  I  was  green  to  the  ways  and  customs 
of  travelling,  each  man  I  had  was  so  much  wiser  than  I,  and 
all  tried  to  boss  me  ;  but  now  the  tables  are  turned.  In  fact, 
I  know  much  more  about  it  than  most  of  them.  A  single  word 
from  me  as  to  time  of  camping,  time  of  starting,  pay,  or  any- 
thing of  that  sort,  is  decisive,  and  obeyed  without  objection. 
And  being  better  able  to  understand  the  nature  of  their  quarrels, 
and  their  own  laws  for  settling  their  disputes,  I  can  generally 
settle  '  the  matter  '  in  a  satisfactory  way  when  it  is  referred 
to  me  and  thus  keep  peace  in  the  camp.  In  fact  I  am  so  exact- 
ing in  the  matter  of  peace  and  quietness  that  my  little  camp  is 
a  perfect  heaven  compared  to  Porto's,  who  never  interferes 
with  his  men  and  won't  hear  their  disputes  until  they  come 
to  raising  clubs  and  guns  and  knives,  and  then  it  is  a  case  of 
putting  some  in  irons,  heavy  fining,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing. 
It  is  marvellous  the  effect  my  growing  beard  has  upon  them. 
I  had  always  been  in  the  habit  of  shaving  until  six  or  eight 
months  ago.  Now  they  address  me  generally  as  '  Sekulu  ' — 
old  man — and  sometimes  remark  :  '  Before  he  deceived  us 
by  shaving  !  but  we  were  not  deceived  ;  his  eyes  are  old,'  etc. 
The  natives  never  have  any  beard  to  speak  of  until  they  are  40. 

"  Aug.  27th. — Arrived  at  Belmonte,  Bihe.  I  had  scarce  paid 
off  my  Balunda  men  when  I  booked  20  for  the  Garenganze. 
The  trader  to  whom  I  gave  medicine  for  dysentery  with  good 
effect  gave  me  a  present  to-day  of  three  bottles  of  claret  and 
five  of  port  wine.  Seeing  I  had  not  any  wane  with  me  I  thought 
perhaps  I  had  better  take  it ;  it  may  be  of  service.  He  (the 
trader)  -will  not  leave  here  for  two  months  or  so,  so  I  will  get 
off  before  him,  greatly  to  my  satisfaction. 

"  Aug.  29th. — Went  over  to  visit  the  chief  to-day  ;  had,  on 
the  whole,  a  pleasant  visit.    I  gave  him  nine  pieces  of  cloth. 

"  Aug.  30th. — This  morning  a  letter  came  from  Chipongi, 
the  chief,  wanting  more  presents.  I  sent  him  a  shawl  and  a 
shirt.  In  his  letter  he  says  I  can  proceed  on  my  journey  after 
he  returns  from  an  antelope  hunt.  The  begging  of  these  chiefs 
causes  a  most  uncomfortable  strain  on  one.  It  is  the  bane  of 
travelling  in  Africa  ;  still  I  must  get  on,  and  I  must  also  have 
something  with  me. 


Iff^!^ 


<       O 

a  .= 


T     r 


A  START  FROM   BENGUELLA        145 

"  Sept.  1st,  1885. — Hitherto  I  find  I  have  been  making  a 
sad  mistake  in  putting  off  the  needful  hours  of  prayerful  study 
of  the  Word  until  the  evening.  The  weakness  of  my  eyes  has 
compelled  me  to  give  up  night  reading,  and  so,  when  not 
travelling,  I  have  set  apart  the  morning  and  early  forenoon 
hours  to  this  study,  and  feel  marvellously  refreshed  and 
strengthened  thereby.  The  days  seem  to  fly  from  me.  Is 
there  not  something  in  the  sound  of  His  voice  that  constrains 
us  to  follow  Him  ?  '  Draw  me  ;  we  will  run  after  Thee  '  ; 
'  My  sheep  hear  My  voice  and  they  follow  Me.'  If  we  do  not 
acquaint  ourselves  early  with  His  drawing  love,  and  with  His 
voice,  how  shall  we  run  and  follow. 

"  Sept.  Idth. — My  carriers  are  coming  in  one  by  one  :  first 
to  talk  and  bargain  about  the  journey,  then,  after  a  certain 
amount  of  time  simmering  over  the  matter  at  their  own 
villages,  return  to  get  booked,  and  to  tie  up  ;  then  back  again 
they  go  to  their  villages  to  sit  on  their  little  wooden  stools,  and 
snuff,  and  consult  the  village  divine,  with  promises  of  large 
rewards  on  their  return,  as  to  the  road,  prospects  of  food,  etc., 
and  having  by  this  time  worked  themselves  up  to  the  '  plunging 
in  '  pitch — just  as  we  boys  used  to  do  in  the  bathing  boxes  on 
the  Portobello  Sands — wall  return  to  seal  and  bargain  by 
carrying  off  their  loads  to  their  own  villages.  When  all  have 
been  lifted  I  go  out  to  camp,  a  few  hours  off,  towards  the 
villages  of  my  carriers,  and,  at  the  silent  signal  of  the  British 
Union  Jack  hoisted  up  a  tree,  the  carriers  will  know  to  take 
their  last  snuff  out  of  the  \dllage  cane,  and  start  off  for  a  year's 
toil  at  least.  And  indeed  they  have  a  hard  job  of  it,  a  60  lb. 
load,  a  blistering  sun,  and  heavy  sand  under  their  bare  feet, 
hot  enough  to  bake  bread  in  ;  and  this  for  12  to  15  miles  a  day 
is  no  joke.  I,  with  my  fat  sleek  ox  and  comfortable  helmet,  in 
comparison,  travel  luxuriously. 

"  By  the  by  I  told  you  in  my  last  how  I  had  refused  to  get 
wine  at  Benguella  for  the  interior,  and  how  my  first  fee  in 
Bihe  was  eight  bottles  of  better  wine  than  I  would  have  thought 
to  buy.  Well  !  there  was  another  little  thing  I  needed,  and 
that  was  a  saddle  for  my  ox.  The  canvas-padded  thing  I  used 
was  a  hot  and  sweaty  thing  and  very  uncomfortable.  I  tried 
to  get  one  at  Benguella,  but  none  there  !  The  other  day  I  was 
turning  out  all  my  material  to  make  a  new  one,  straps  of  goat 
skin,  yes,  a  canvas  bag,  a  piece  of  leather  about  the  size  of  ray 


146        A   START  FROM  BENGUELLA 

two  hands.  I  could  make  little  out  of  it,  so  laid  all  aside,  and 
sat  down,  ruminating,  when  a  man  arrives  with  a  letter, 
written  in  good  Portuguese,  to  the  effect  that  a  young  man, 
named  Quilernee,  had  a  saddle  to  sell ;  would  the  white  man 
buy  it  for  thirty  yards  of  cloth  ?  '  Of  course  !  Where  is  it  ?  ' 
'  The  boy  is  just  behind  with  it.'  And  sure  enough  in  a  few 
minutes  here  comes  saddle,  stirrups,  and  belly-band,  all  com- 
plete and  in  fair  condition.  Its  history  I  suppose  to  be  as 
follows  :  Some  Dutch  hunter's  horse  had  died  doAvn  by  the 
Kavungu  ;  the  saddle  had  been  given  to  some  natives  who 
sold  it  to  this  Bihe  trader  on  his  journey  down  there.  At  least 
he  brought  the  saddle  from  that  direction  somewhere.  So  I 
am  supplied  with  a  snug  seat  for  the  journey,  all  ordered  and 
found  by  Him  '  Whose  I  am  and  Whom  I  (seek  to)  serve.' 

"  The  probabilities  of  my  visiting  Lake  Bangweolo  are,  in 
the  meantime,  out  of  the  question.  I  should  certainly  like  to 
see  where  my  noble  countryman  fell,  and  all  that,  but  until  I 
have  learned  the  language  of  the  country  I  shall  consider  any 
unnecessary  travelling  a  waste  of  time  and  money.  But  I  shall 
likely  send  to  Chitambo  (as  I  am  told  he  is  now  at  the  Garen- 
ganze)  and  get  his  news,  as  his  side  of  the  story.  It  may  be 
that  he  who  left  such  decided  impressions  upon  many  who 
met  him  while  in  life,  did  not  fail  to  make  a  lasting  impression 
upon  the  hearts  of  those  he  died  among.  Noble,  brave  old 
Livingstone  !  What  an  honour  it  would  be  to  take  up  even 
some  of  the  threads  of  his  life  work.  From  continually  hearing 
him  spoken  of  by  the  natives  I  have  formed  opinions  of  him 
independently  altogether  of  what's  written  or  has  been  said  at 
home  about  him. 

"  I  have  received  lately  a  fresh  impulse  in  studying  the 
Scriptures,  and  try  to  give  the  first  four  hours  of  the  day 
entirely  to  that,  part  of  which  time  is  taken  up  with 
analysing  each  sentence  carefully  with  the  help  of  Bengel's 
Gnomon  (index)  and  the  Greek  grammar,  and  marvel  con- 
tinually at  the  Divine  beauty  and  explicitness  of  the  text. 

"  Sept.  15th. — Quite  a  lot  of  Bachokwe  arrived  here  (Bel- 
monte)  to-day  from  Kasembe,  near  to  the  Uleva  River,  with 
rubber  for  sale.  Their  leader  had  been  up  to  the  Congo  River 
and  had  met  '  Buli  '  (Stanley)  and  seemed  distressed  about  the 
possible  loss  of  trade  which  the  occupation  of  that  country  by 
the  whites  would  mean  to  them. 


A  START  FROM  BENGUELLA         147 

"  Sept.  \Qih. — My  carriers  give  me  nothing  but  disappoint- 
ment. A  few  who  have  offered  their  serAdces  are  so  utterly 
unreasonable  in  their  demands  that  it  is  evident  they  have 
no  intention  of  going  with  me.  Nothing  is  lost  by  these  delays  ; 
all  is  conscious  gain.  I  think  labourers,  or  intending  labourers 
in  Africa,  ought  to  take  much  heed  to  these  words,  '  Ye  have 
need  of  patience.'  It  seems  at  times  as  if  everything  was  at  a 
deadlock,  and  every  one  around  in  a  sound  slumber.  At  last 
a  little  rustling  is  heard,  and  after  a  while  a  move  is  made  ; 
but  so  surely  as  a  halt  occurs,  all  relax  into  profound  inaction. 
I  have  been  busy  negotiating  with  carriers  all  this  month ; 
hundreds  say  they  are  willing  to  go.  I  only  want  30,  and  yet 
it  takes  weeks  and  even  months  to  get  them  up  to  the  carrying 
point ;  still,  they  do  come,  and  I  got  my  fifteenth  load  tied 
up  to-day. 

"  The  chief  here,  in  a  favourable  interview,  has  given  me, 
according  to  native  custom,  '  the  road  '  to  the  Garenganze, 
and  I  got  off  very  cheaply  in  only  having  to  pay,  as  tribute, 
about  100  yards  of  cotton  cloth  ;  but  my  stock  was  small,  and 
I  claimed  a  special  privilege  as  having  come  from  the  interior, 
as  the  natives  do.  A  young  Portuguese  trader,  for  the  same 
privilege,  gave  three  four-gallon  kegs  of  rum,  a  case  of  gin, 
600  yards  of  cloth,  50  lb.  of  powder,  and  one  or  two  guns. 
A  Portuguese  priest  told  me  he  had  to  give  one  four-gallon  keg 
of  rum,  200  yards  of  cloth,  two  blankets,  six  shirts,  his  own 
silver  watch,  and  some  other  small  things.  Senhor  Porto  never 
returns  from  the  coast  without  bringing  as  tribute  far  more 
than  this. 

"  Sept.  2\st. — Sent  on  seven  loads  to  Kapoko  with  24  yards 
to  the  chief.  He  writes  me  very  kindly  assuring  me  of  a  speedy 
crossing  of  the  Kwanza.  News  has  come  in  that  the  Matabele 
have  come  up  to  the  Barotse  raiding. 

"  Sept.  2Qth. — A  few  days  ago  I  noticed  a  little  boy,  about 
eight  or  nine  years  of  age,  who  belongs  to  a  towTi  close  by, 
going  about  with  both  hands  in  a  sad  condition.  The  left  one 
was  completely  distorted,  and  three  of  the  fingers  were  joined 
together  in  one  suppurating  mass.  The  right  hand  was  com- 
pletely skinned,  and  the  arms  were  more  or  less  badly  scalded. 
Upon  inquiry  I  learned  that  the  boy  had  been  visiting,  with 
some  of  his  village  mates,  the  town  of  one  of  Chipongi's  sisters. 
When  playing  about  he  had  stolen  some  beans  belonging  to  this 


148        A  START  FROM  BENGUELLA 

woman,  who,  to  punish  the  child,  put  both  his  hands  into  a  pot 
of  water  then  boihng  on  the  fire.  The  left  hand  was  so  much 
injured  that  she  must  have  left  it  in  the  water  for  a  few  seconds. 
I  understand  that  this  creature  in  human  shape  has  not  even 
been  called  in  question  for  her  cruelty.    The  child  was  a  slave. 

"  Oct.  2nd,  1885. — It  seems  that  by  accident  the  yard  and 
huts  of  the  chief  of  Bihe  have  been  burned  down.  He  coolly 
sends  to  the  Portuguese  trader  and  myself  for  five  pieces  of 
cloth.  I  send  him  three  12-yard  pieces,  at  the  same  time 
apprising  him  of  my  intended  departure.  Indeed,  I  must  be 
out  of  this  at  once.    There  is  no  end  to  this  chief's  begging. 

"  Oct.  5th. — I  have  been  advised  not  to  think  of  starting 
until  the  chief's  return  from  his  hunt.  I  have  spent  indeed  a 
restless  week,  part  of  my  goods  already  gone  some  time.  Am 
I  kept  here  waiting  seemingly  for  an  indefinite  length  of  time  ? 
In  this  frame  of  mind  I  had  been  until  this  evening,  but  I  have 
been  humbled  by  a  sight  of  the  worthlessness  of  all  my  works. 
Were  I  able  to  arrange  for  a  start  to-morrow  in  my  own  strength 
what  would  it  amount  to  ?  It  certainly  would  not  give  pleasure 
to  God,  neither  would  it  honour  His  Spirit.  I  was  enabled 
to  confess  my  foolish  and  sinful  impatience  to  God,  and, 
feeling  the  inward  strength  of  His  Spirit,  my  willingness  to  wait 
His  pleasure.  While  still  on  my  knees,  I  was  startled  by  four 
shots  close  by.  It  was  the  men  returning  from  the  king's  hunt. 
Having  killed  a  male  antelope  the  farce  was  over  and  the  king 
reinstated  in  his  capital  once  more.  I  cannot  look  upon  this 
incident  without  feelings  of  gratitude  to  my  most  tender  and 
patient  Lord.  Why  should  He  thus  so  mercifully  lead  me  into 
that  state  of  mind  in  which  I  could  but  profit  by  the  coming 
news  ?  Or  was  it  that  He  knew  beforehand  at  what  time  I 
would  learn  my  lesson  and  submit  myself  to  Him  that  He 
ordered  the  end  of  the  hunt  ? 

"  Oct.  9th. — Sent  most  of  my  goods  out  to  camp  with  a 
feeling  of  intense  satisfaction  that  at  last  another  stage  was 
reached  in  the  slow  business  of  '  getting  a  start.'  At  no  time 
I  think  does  a  traveller  in  this  country  stand  more  in  need  of 
dogged  patience. 

"  Oct.  lOth. — Into  first  camp  at  Mokumba  by  the  Longwali 
River.  Shot  at  a  large  buck  and  wounded  him,  had  a  long 
hunt  with  my  dog  on  the  wounded  animal's  spoor,  but  had  to 
return  as  the  rain  was  threatening  and  I  had  not  yet  set  up 


A  START    FROM  BENGUELLA        149 

my  tent.  A  few  hours  every  day  now  will  have  to  be  taken  up 
with  hunting  for  game.  A  head  of  game  keeps  the  men  in 
good  spirits,  supplies  food,  and  smooths  the  way  wonderfully. 

"  Oct.  11th. — In  camp  to-day.  I  hear  that  nearly  all  the 
carriers  I  had  engaged  have,  for  different  reasons,  withdrawn. 
So  I  have  to  do  a  good  deal  of  last  month's  work  over  again. 
Sent  off  messengers  in  all  directions  to  call  for  carriers.  Was 
willing  to  accept  offers  for  one  day's  journey,  if  they  would 
come. 

"  Oct.  12th. — In  camp,  arranging  with  men  to  take  me  on 
as  far  as  Kapoko  at  least. 

"  Oct.  13th. — Had  prospect  of  getting  another  start  this 
morning.  After  a  hasty  cup  of  coffee,  by  way  of  breakfast,  I 
took  down  my  tent  and  bundled  it  up.  Those  who  had  promised 
to  come  for  loads  were  very  dilatory,  and  it  was  towards  mid- 
day before  we  began  to  get  the  loads  out  of  camp.  Sending 
some  on  ahead  in  charge  of  Kasoma,  I  told  him  to  camp  at 
a  place  called  Nyani,  some  four  miles  off,  and  I  remained 
behind,  as  there  were  still  a  few  loads  for  which  there  were  no 
carriers.  In  the  evening  I  was  able  to  overtake  Kasoma  and 
the  others,  and  in  the  dark  paid  off  all  the  day-workers,  got 
my  loads  together,  and  threw  a  sheet  of  waterproof  canvas  over 
them.  I  had,  however,  barely  got  under  cover  myself  when 
a  heavy  storm  came  on,  threatening  to  drive  everything  before 
it.  The  carriers  had  gone  off  to  their  villages  close  by  for 
shelter,  and  I  was  left  alone  in  the  damp  and  darkness,  holding 
on  grimly  to  the  flapping  canvas  of  my  tent.  At  last  the 
storm  abated  somewhat,  and  I  got  a  few  hours'  undisturbed 
sleep  before  morning. 

"  Oct.  lUh. — Marched  a  few  miles  in  the  same  hand-to- 
mouth  fashion.  Camped  by  Kangango's  by  the  Shambundwe. 
Kangango  is  quite  a  big  man  in  his  way.  I  gave  him  eight 
yards  of  material  for  which  he  returned  me  two  fowls  and 
some  beer  for  the  men,  and  conducted  himself  civilly.  I 
counted  14  villages  here. 

"  Oct.  15th. — Early  this  morning  crossed  the  Uyowe  River, 
on  the  east  side  of  which  I  counted  12  villages  known  as 
Kakomo.  The  thickly  wooded  hill  between  these  two  districts 
would  be  a  splendid  place  for  a  mission  station,  being  within 
easy  walk  from  both. 

"  Reached  Kapoko's  about  midday.    In  going  over  the  hill, 


150        A  START   FROM  BENGUELLA 

before  reaching  this  place,  I  was  delighted  with  the  magnificent 
view.  Before  me  stretched  the  Kukema  Valley  running  into 
the  Kwanza  Valley,  and  there,  far  away  beyond,  like  an  ocean 
horizon,  lay  the  great  interior  flat — flat  in  comparison  to  the 
country  between  here  and  the  coast.  The  extent  of  the  view 
one  gets  here  is  most  impressive,  and  has  awakened  in  me  a 
thousand  thoughts  concerning  the  silent  interior — my  past 
experience  there,  past  preservation  and  blessing,  present  joy, 
and  hope  for  the  future.  All  seemed  to  get  full  expression  in 
'  My  Lord  and  my  God  !  ' 

"  In  the  evening  I  visited  Kapoko.  His  toAvnti  is  large  and 
very  clean.  The  chief  sent  me  word  that  he  was  mourning  the 
death  of  a  child,  and  that  I  was  to  return  to-morrow,  mean- 
while I  was  to  leave  my  present,  which  I  did,  viz.  32  yards  of 
calico.  A  little  later  in  the  evening  three  of  his  headmen  came 
to  me  with  a  story  of  great  dissatisfaction,  said  to  be  from 
Kapoko,  to  the  effect  that  my  present  was  too  small.  '  I 
surely  thought,'  they  said,  '  that  Kapoko  was  a  very  small 
man,  seeing  I  had  sent  him  so  small  a  present.'  I  listened  to 
their  story  with  much  attention.  And  then  in  the  most  serious 
manner  began  to  assure  them  of  the  great  respect  I  had  for 
Kapoko,  that  I  knew  that  he  was  a  very  great  man,  and  asked 
the  royal  messengers  to  go  back  and  assure  his  majesty  that 
the  smallness  of  the  present  spoke  only  of  my  smallness,  but 
not  at  all  of  his,  and  that  if  I  was  only  so  much  bigger  I  would 
think  nothing  of  giving  Kapoko  bales  of  cloth.  The  poor  old 
men  dropped  their  frowning  visages  and  looked  at  each  other 
in  a  stupified  way.  Some  of  the  young  men,  however,  behind 
could  not  hold  themselves  in  but  burst  out  laughing,  which 
was  the  sign  for  a  general  burst  of  laughter.  We  all  parted 
a  short  time  after  the  best  of  friends  ;  the  king's  prime  minister, 
who  was  the  leading  one  of  the  group,  leaving  me  the  assur- 
ance of  a  good  fat  pig  on  the  morrow. 

"  Oct.  IQth. — My  last  night's  visitors  came  back  this  morning 
saying  that  Kapoko  would  give  me  nothing  less  than  an  ox, 
and  that  he  had  sent  to  the  Kwanza  to  procure  one  for  me  from 
one  of  his  villages,  and  it  would  arrive  on  the  morrow.  I  told 
them  that  I  was  very  hungry,  and  that  a  sheep  would  be  worth 
more  to  me  to-day  than  an  ox  to-morrow.  In  the  end  a  fat 
sheep  was  sent  to  my  camp. 

"  Oct.  nth. — Kapoko  came  himself  to  visit  me  to-day.  They 


A  START  FROM  BENGUELLA        151 

carried  him  in  a  palanquin.  He  is  a  very  old  and  frail  man. 
I  must  confess  I  am  most  favourably  impressed  with  him.  He 
is  very  kindly  both  in  his  look  and  manner.  He  wanted 
to  know  if  I  could  hunt  and  proposed  that  I  should 
go  down  to  the  river  to-morrow  to  shoot  a  hippopotamus.  I 
readily  consented  provided  his  men  found  the  hippo.  My  man 
tells  me,  though,  that  he  gave  instructions  to  his  servants  to 
take  me  to  one  of  his  cattle  posts  to  shoot  an  ox.  '  Handsome 
is  who  handsome  does.'    To  say  the  least  it  was  neatly  done. 

"  Here  I  again  made  what  proved  to  be  almost  a  futile  effort 
to  collect  carriers. 

"  Oct.  2Srd. — Left  Kapoko's  capital  to-day  for  Cisamba,  six 
miles  N.E.  towards  the  Kwanza.  This  is  another  step  forward. 
Three  Garenganze  men  came  to  my  camp.  They  said  they  had 
decided  to  return  with  me.  They  had  been  sent  by  their  chief 
to  look  for  traders.  They  had  found  in  me  a  real  white  man, 
so  could  not  do  better  than  return  home  with  me.  The  chief 
one  of  the  three  had  on  large  ivory  A\Tistlets  about  6  in.  wide 
as  a  sign  that  he  was  sent  by  the  chief.  Their  language  seems 
clearly  to  be  of  the  Bantu  family. 

"  Oct.  24:th. — Here  at  Cisamba  it  is  very  hot  and  the  vegeta- 
tion by  the  river  has  a  tropical  look.  This  is  the  last  of  the 
Ovimbundu  villages.  The  people  seem  to  be  devoted  to  the 
interior  trade. 

"  Oct.  2&h. — Preparing  for  a  start  to-morrow,  God  willing. 
It  has  been  a  long  trying  business  getting  together  out  of  the 
crowd  the  few  who  are  Avilling  to  start  on  so  long  a  journey 
with  no  more  tempting  offer  of  pay  than  I  am  able  to  give,  viz. 
equal  to  15  yards  of  cloth  to  each  contractor  for  each  load, 
paid  here  ;  and  20  yards  to  each  porter  at  the  end  of  the 
journey  (60  travelling  days)  with  2  yards  and  salt  to  each  man 
every  10  camps  as  rations.  The  contractors  have  the  responsi- 
bility of  building  the  camps,  seeing  the  loads  housed  for  the 
night,  and  arranging  about  guides,  etc. 

"  My  own  man,  Kasoma,  who  has  been  with  me  for  six 
months  as  interpreter,  etc.,  has  got  together  five  men  as  porters. 
His  wife  also  goes  with  him.  He  will  remain  with  us  at  the 
Garenganze  and  promises  to  be  as  useful  as  he  has  been. 

"  Lokumba,  my  head  '  sekulu,'  seems  to  be  a  very  worthy 
man,  reasonable  and  active — ^two  most  valuable  accomphsh- 
ments. 


152        A    START  FROM  BENGUELLA 

"  My  carriers  represent  the  variety  common  to  all  peoples. 

"  Chipooka  stammers  as  he  speaks,  but  is  lively  under  all 
circumstances.  He  has  a  bad  festering  toe  which,  however, 
does  not  prevent  him  carrying  his  60  lb.  load.  Though  limping 
badly,  his  only  response  to  expressions  of  sympathy  is  a  broad 
grin.    He  seems  to  think  it  a  very  ridiculous  toe. 

"  Saombo  is  another  representative  man,  perfectly  hideous 
in  his  looks,  but  vanity  has  made  his  ugliness  look  comical.  All 
who  come  to  the  camp,  he  seems  to  think,  have  come  to  see 
him.  When  the  usual  semicircle  of  aboriginal  strangers  gather 
in  front  of  my  tent  he  is  fit  no  more  for  camp  building,  but 
must  come  and  sit  do'sMi  in  front  of  all,  clapping  his  thighs 
with  delight,  trying  to  crack  jokes,  the  very  existence  of 
which  in  our  minds,  even  for  a  moment,  is  rendered  im- 
possible by  volumes  of  hoarse  laughter  from  his  tremendous 
mouth. 

"  Then  we  have  the  sulky  grumbler  amongst  us.  He  has 
always  something  to  complain  of.  Now  his  load  is  not  right, 
next  his  rations,  then  his  pay,  or  a  thorn  pricks  his  foot  and  he 
can  carry  no  longer  that  day.  The  work  has  to  be  done  but 
certainly  not  by  him.  Only  one  or  two  of  such  in  a  company 
can  reasonably  be  borne  with. 

"  I  spend  each  evening  sitting  round  the  camp  fire  ^vith  my 
men,  trying  in  a  thousand  ways  to  convey  to  them  intelligent 
thoughts  as  to  my  mission.  It  is  of  the  first  importance  that 
they  should  understand  me,  and  be  able  to  give  an  answer  to 
the  thousands  in  the  interior  who  will  ask  them  what  this 
white  man  has  come  for. 

"  In  reviewing  the  occupants  of  my  camp  I  must  not  over- 
look my  faithful  dog  and  a  parrot.  The  latter  I  bought  for  a 
trifle  for  the  sake  of  my  boys.  Really  he  is  a  most  ridiculous 
bird.  Generally  in  the  evening,  or  towards  the  end  of  a  march, 
when  everyone  is  going  along  quietly,  Polly  breaks  out  into  an 
old  man's  laugh,  or  goes  through  the  sounds  heard  at  a  native 
dog  hunt  :  '  Kwata  !  Kwata  !  '  (Catch  it  !  Catch  it  !)  ;  then 
a  shouting  of  men  ;  '  to-to  !  '  for  guns  going  off  ;  finishing 
up  with  the  pitiful  crying  of  a  wounded  animal.  He  also  sings 
some  native  airs,  the  whole  caravan  shouting  out  the  chorus  ; 
then  another  turn  from  Polly,  until  every  one  breaks  down 
with  laughter  ;   it  is  so  ridiculous. 

"  I  have  been  teaching  my  dog  a  lesson  or  two  in  grace. 


A    START  FROM  BENGUELLA        153 

He  is  so  lively  and  fond  of  stealing  that  I  have  had  to  punish 
him  severely,  and  drive  him  to  lie  down  beside  my  chair.  Now 
whenever  he  is  in  fault,  and  I  shout  to  him,  he  makes  straight 
for  my  chair  or  his  bed  beside  the  goods.  There  he  knows  he 
is  safe.  I  suppose  he  argues  that  was  always  the  end  of  his 
punishments,  so  it  is  better  at  the  first  sign  of  ^\Tath  to  go 
straight  to  the  e7id  of  the  punishment,  and  thus  miss  the 
punishment. 

"  A  contractor  and  five  men  have  given  up  their  loads 
because  I  would  not  pay  them  beforehand — a  ruse  to  get  to 
their  homes  again.  Two  or  three  days  will  mend  the  breach 
I  hope.  Have  sent  back  to  hunt  for  some  more.  Once  I  get 
across  the  Kwanza  all  will  go  smoothly  I  hope. 

"  Oct.  27th. — I  have  managed  to  make  up  the  number  of 
my  men  again,  at  least  in  my  book,  but  it  is  hard  to  say  how 
many  will  turn  up  to-morrow.  Kasoma,  my  mainstay,  has  met 
someone  here  who  got  the  loan  of  a  gun  from  him  some  long 
time  ago,  and  here  the  fellow  leaves  everything  and  goes  off 
after  his  trashy  gun.  We  were  to  start  to-morrow  but  I  fear 
we  will  make  another  mess.  Patience,  however,  and  its  end, 
are  surely  linked.  The  perfect  end  is  patience  perfected.  I 
know  it  is  no  mere  treadmill  I  am  set  to,  but  that  each  day, 
each  hour,  of  obedient  waiting,  is  a  day,  and  an  hour,  of 
positive  gain. 

"  Oct.  2Sth. — Nearly  all  the  carriers  I  had  engaged  from 
the  villages  around  Kapoko  have  been  ordered  to  leave  me. 
This  is  the  second  time  my  carriers  have  been  driven  from  me 
here.  Also  the  first  batch  who  left  me  did  so  by  the  orders  of 
a  small  chief.  In  my  simplicity  I  did  not  then  fully  understand 
the  situation,  but  now  I  see  that  not  a  few  influentials,  in  this 
country  of  interior  traders,  are  set  against  my  going  to  the 
Garenganze.  My  man,  Kasoma,  assures  me  of  the  truth  of  this 
and  says  they  are  all  very  jealous  about  a  white  man  going 
into  the  interior,  especially  an  '  English,'  of  whose  power  in 
swallowing  trade  they  have  a  superstitious  fear.  As  I  cannot 
imagine  an}'-  worse  motive  in  the  minds  of  my  opposers  than 
this,  their  own  interest,  I  fully  forgive  them  for  all  the  trouble 
they  are  giving  me.  They  do  not  understand  my  errand.  How 
could  they  !  Meanwhile  I  send  off  13  loads  post  haste.  I  also 
Bend  off  messengers,  here  and  there,  to  pick  up  carriers.  It  is 
doubling  my  expenses,  but  my  only  chance  now  of  succeeding 


154        A   START  FROM  BENGUELLA 

at  all  (with  God's  blessing)  is,  at  all  cost,  to  make  a  rapid  move 
for  the  east  bank  of  the  Kwanza. 

"  About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  Lekomba  came  in 
with  two  men  and  the  prospect  of  more  to-morrow.  So  I 
started  off  for  camp  10  miles  distant,  leaving  Kasoma  to  come 
on  with  what  men  turn  up  to-morrow,  and  what  loads  he 
cannot  fetch  to  store  in  the  house  of  one  who,  I  am  told,  is  a 
trusty  man. 

"  I  got  into  camp  late,  and  very  tired  and  almost  starved 
out.  We  have  left  all  Bihe  villages  behind  to  my  great  joy. 
I  have  goods  enough  here  to  take  me  on.  The  Garenganze  men, 
who  return  to  their  country  with  me,  are  indignant  at  the 
conduct  of  these  Biheans,  and  declare  that  Msidi,  their  king, 
when  he  hears  of  the  way  they  have  tried  to  hinder  a  white 
man  from  coming  to  him  will  be  very  angry.  They  also  say 
that  if  I  want  100  carriers  to  return  mth  me  to  the  coast  their 
chief  will  give  them  to  me.  So  that  I  see  clearly  that  this  may 
be  the  plan  for  opening  up  that  country,  first  to  get  there,  and 
then  to  employ  the  bone  and  muscle  of  the  country  to  bring 
others  there. 

"  I  have  been  comforted  this  morning  with  these  words  and 
promise,  '  Because  thou  hast  kept  the  word  of  my  patience, 
I  also  Avill  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  trial.'  '  He  that  openeth 
and  no  man  shutteth,'  said  this. 

"  Oct.  29//i. — Kasoma  came  on  to-day  with  four  loads, 
leaving  10  behind  without  carriers. 

"  Oct.  SOth. — Had  a  long  day's  march.  Passed  a  caravan 
of  traders  just  come  from  the  Lunda  country.  They  had  many 
slaves.  I  counted  about  30  mere  infants.  Some  of  these  were 
trotting  along  whilst  others  were  being  carried.  One  little 
thing  seemed  to  be  hanging  over  a  young  man's  shoulder,  dead 
or  nearly  so.  Many  of  the  slaves  looked  terribly  afraid  of  me 
and  my  ox.  I  suppose  they  thought  they  had  now  arrived  at 
the  long-talked-of  land  of  monsters.  The  traders  said  they  had 
bought  them  from  an  army  returning  from  pillaging. 

"  Oct.  31st. — Travelled  seven  hours  and  camped  close  by 
the  Kwanza  (a  httle  below  where  the  Kuiba  flows  in  on  the 
east  bank).  I  have  thus  gone  down  the  Kwanza  a  long  way 
to  avoid  crossing  three  large  rivers  instead  of  one  (the  Kukema, 
the  Cuanja  and  the  Kuiba). 

"  We  passed  a  caravan  from  the  Luba  country.    They  had 


A  START  FROM  BENGUELLA        155 

been  attacked  by  people  living  on  the  Lualaba  and  robbed, 
some  of  their  number  being  killed.  One  of  the  Garenganze 
natives  travelling  with  me  was  a  long  way  behind.  The 
travellers  attacked  him,  threatening  to  kill  him  in  revenge  for 
the  death  of  their  fellows  in  the  interior,  but  beyond  stealing 
his  hat  and  something  of  mine  which  he  was  carrying  they  did 
no  harm. 

"  Nov.  1st,  1885. — After  paying  other  eight  yards  to  the 
chief  of  Tolonoka  we  started  to  cross  the  Kwanza.  We  em- 
ployed five  boats,  to  the  owners  of  which  I  paid  four  yards 
each  and  two  yards  to  each  paddler.  I  turned  out  my  finest 
cloth  and  everything  went  along  with  comparative  smoothness. 
The  heat  to-day  has  been  most  unbearable.  After  standing 
about  the  river  for  several  hours,  directing  the  crossing  of  my 
goods  and  my  ox,  I  was  half  stupid  with  the  heat  and  could 
scarce  sit  on  my  ox  after  starting  for  the  camp. 

"  Two  of  my  carriers  have  run  off,  so  I  had  to  pack  their 
loads  on  my  ox  and  push  along. 

"  The  appearance  now  of  the  country  is  of  an  immense  flat, 
hills  taking  the  form  of  low  sand-belts  with  scrubby  bush  on 
their  tops.  The  natives  have  the  wild  look  of  the  interior 
inhabitants  and  are  much  more  sparely  clad.  The  villages  are 
very  small  and  far  between. 

"  Nov.  2nd. — Rain  coming  down  in  torrents,  as  it  used  to 
do  at  the  Barotse,  the  result  of  yesterday's  intense  heat.  Of 
course  we  remain  in  camp,  thankful  indeed  to  have  got  on  so 
far.  I  find  that  every  one  of  my  men  speaks  of  the  heat  of 
yesterday  as  being  exceptional,  so  I  am  satisfied  that  it  was  not 
any  special  weakness  on  my  part  when  I  felt  overcome  and 
knocked  up. 

"  I  am  secretly  informed  that  some  of  my  carriers  are  wholly 
untrustworthy  and  intend  forsaking  me  in  the  Lovale  country. 
To  be  forewarned  is  not  to  be  exactly  forearmed  in  this  case,  for 
what  can  I  do  ?  I  know  that  not  one  man  with  me  is  free  from 
the  bondage  of  the  enemy.  They  are  his  to  do  his  bidding.  So 
with  the  best  of  my  men  I  would  depend  only  upon  the  power 
of  God  to  keep  them  faithful  to  me  in  this  journey.  No  tact 
or  precaution  on  my  part  can  do  this. 

"  This  evening  a  man  tying  up  his  load  threw  off  one  of 
my  valuable  tins  of  biscuits,  saying  he  could  not  carry  that, 
his  load  was  already  too  heavy.    I  had  no  option  but  to  open  it 


156        A   START    FROM  BENGUELLA 

and  divide  some  of  the  biscuits  through  some  other  loads,  and 
to  give  the  rest  away. 

"  Nov.  Srd. — Got  a  good  start  this  morning.  I  packed  my 
ox,  and  it  proved  a  perfect  success  every  way,  requiring  no 
attention  on  the  road.  He  kept  up  with  the  men.  The  road 
passed  many  old  and  ruined  villages,  ruined  by  raiding  parties 
from  Bihe.  The  few  villages  inhabited  were  very  ^^Tetched  and 
half-built  looking.  The  people  turned  out  in  full  force  to  see 
the  ox  carrying  a  load  of  salt,  the  first  time  I  suppose  anything 
of  the  sort  has  been  seen  in  this  part  of  the  country.  The  people 
seem  to  be  all  in  a  bad  way — no  food,  villages  out  of  repair, 
badly  clothed,  indeed  some  are  on  the  verge  of  nakedness. 
I  sent  the  chief  20  yards  of  cloth.  He  sent  back  saying  he  was 
delighted  to  see  me  in  his  country  and  wanted  to  give  me  a 
present,  but  how  could  he  on  top  of  so  little  cloth.  After  some 
palaver  I  consented  to  give  16  yards  more.  His  present  to  me 
was  a  good  fat  sheep  and  a  basket  of  meal.  He  also  sent  his 
brother  to  guide  me  on  to  some  villages  further  up  the  Kuiba 
where  I  can  get  food  to  buy. 

"  Nov.  Uh. — Keeping  to  the  S.E.  for  five  hours  this  morning 
we  came  to  the  Kuiba  River  again.  From  the  point  where  I 
am  camped  I  can  see  the  hills  at  Kapoko  across  the  Kuiba, 
Kwanza  and  Kukema  valleys.  I  have  got  back  to  the  regular 
caravan  route  which  crosses  these  three  rivers,  and  which  I 
have  wisely  avoided.  I  am  so  well  pleased  with  my  walking 
that  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  stick  to  it  and  to  turn  the 
ox  into  a  porter  for  food  for  the  road.  Camped  at  Mosibe's 
town. 

"  Nov.  5th. — The  12  yards  I  sent  to  Mosibe  yesterday  has  not 
pleased,  but  he  says  he  Avill  teach  me  a  thing  to-day  in  the  way 
of  giving.  About  midday  he  came  along  dressed  out  in  his 
best.  Behind  him  was  a  whole  herd  of  oxen,  out  of  which 
I  was  asked  to  kill  one,  which  I  did,  a  good  fat  ox  and  no 
mistake.  Of  course  I  added  to  my  present  :  a  blanket,  coat 
and  24  yards  of  cloth — not  by  any  means  a  dear  ox. 

"  The  way  these  people  trouble  me  for  rum  is  beyond  descrip- 
tion. They  believe  every  glass  bottle  they  see,  or  kettle,  or 
vessel  of  any  kind  belonging  to  me,  is  full  of  rum.  If  I  drink 
coffee  they  declare  I  drink  rum.  '  Rum  !  Rum  !  '  rings  in 
my  head  from  morning  until  night.  I  have  with  me  one  un- 
fortunate bottle,  unknown  to  anyone  with  me,  and  the  terror 


A   START  FROM  BENGUELLA        157 

of  that  bottle  being  discovered  is  beyond  my  power  to  endure, 
so  to-day  I  opened  the  box  it  was  in  and  buried  the  bottle  at 
night.    This  leaves  me  only  a  little  in  my  medicine  box. 

"  Nov.  8th. — Waiting  still  for  Cinyama  who  stayed  behind 
to  try  and  get  carriers  for  the  loads  I  left  with  him.  My  men 
have  been  showing  every  sign  of  discontent  and  impatience, 
demanding  their  payment  in  advance.  When  I  remember  that 
nearly  all  my  regular  carriers  were  recalled  or  otherwise 
hindered  from  leaving  Bihe  with  me,  and  that  most  of  them 
I  have  with  me  are  '  free  lances  '  picked  up  here  and  there 
and  going  for  the  sake  of  spoil,  I  am  enabled  to  understand 
and  excuse  much.  How  blessed  also  to  know  that  I  am  but  a 
subaltern  ;  the  Lord  is  commander. 

"  Cinyama  came  along  to-day  with  the  last  of  my  loads. 
So  I  go  on  fairly  well  set  up  with  every  comfort.  Am  rather 
short,  however,  of  cloth  for  paying  my  men  as  their  demands 
are  greater  than  they  would  have  been  had  I  retained  the 
carriers  engaged  at  first. 

"  Nov.  9th. — A  general  grumbling  and  discontent  all  over 
the  camp  this  morning.  '  Pay  '  was  evidently  the  subject 
under  consideration.  On  the  whole  the  men  were  reasonable 
in  their  demands.  One  or  two,  however,  I  noticed  were  un- 
reasonable, and  I  marked  them.  They  were  all  naturally  afraid 
that  I  would  not  keep  to  my  promise  and  give  them  the  amount 
agreed  upon  at  the  journey's  end.  So  many  Portuguese 
traders  have  taken  advantage  of  them  that  way.  I  managed 
to  hold  out  quietly  until  Cinyama  and  three  other  '  sekulus  ' 
guaranteed  to  stand  security  for  the  good  faith  of  the  men 
if  I  would  pay  them.  So  I  paid  them  each  24  yards  of  fine 
cloth,  leaving  but  a  small  balance  to  be  paid  at  the  end  of  the 
journey  in  the  form  of  beads.  I  managed,  however,  to  use  up 
in  paying,  the  loads  of  those  men  who  were  most  unreasonable. 
I  also  gave  them  all  a  much  better  quality  of  cloth  than  they 
expected  to  get.  Then  came  a  busy  afternoon  tying,  sewing 
up,  repacking,  etc.,  for  a  final  start.  All  were  in  first-rate 
spirits.  There  was  no  more  word  of  returning.  To  add  to  the 
general  satisfaction  reigning  both  in  me  and  in  the  men  a 
messenger  came  across  the  river  from  Kapoko  with  a  letter  to 
me  containing  a  message  for  my  men  in  which  he  declared  that 
he,  Kapoko,  was  my  sworn  friend  and  that  the  men  who  went 
with  me  must  treat  me  well,  for  to  injure  '  Monare  '  was  to 


158        A  START  FROM  BENGUELLA 

injure  Kapoko.  A  very  good  and  kind  letter.  The  only  fault 
it  had  was  it  was  behind  time.  For  some  reason  or  other 
Kapoko  declined  his  gracious  help  when  I  was  in  his  country, 
and  did  not  prevent  his  headmen  from  molesting  me.  Now 
he  sends  after  me,  a  six  days'  journey,  his  declaration  of 
friendship." 


CHAPTER  XII 

IN   NEED    OF   PATIENCE 

MOSIBE,  Nov.  10th,  1885.— Rain  all  the  morning,  so 
remain  here  another  day  and  thankful  I  am  for  the 
rest.  Everything  seems  ready  and  the  men  are  all 
quiet  and  contented. 

"  Have  begun  to  transcribe  the  language  of  the  Garenganze 
in  one  of  Max  Miiller's  outline  dictionaries  and  according  to  his 
principles  of  using  the  English  alphabet.  My  object  is  to  get 
an  exact  photograph  of  each  word,  and  not  in  any  way  to  decide 
as  to  the  alphabet  proper  for  that  language.  First,  I  ^vrite  the 
words  as  I  hear  them  from  the  natives  of  Garenganze  who  are 
with  me,  in  a  pocket-book,  and,  after  hearing  them  several 
times,  I  carefully  transfer  them  to  the  outline  dictionary. 

"  In  the  evening  I  took  an  affectionate  farewell  of  my  friend 
Mosibe.    He  gave  me  another  ox  to  eat  on  my  return  journey. 

"  My  men  have  made  a  general  demand  for  a  '  bundera,'  so  I 
have  unrolled  the  British  ensign  which  a  lad  will  carry.  To 
travel  without  a  '  bundera  '  means  bad  luck  to  them. 

"  Three  companies  of  native  traders  have  joined  me.  I  feel 
a  thousand  miles  nearer  to  my  destination  than  I  did  a  few 
weeks  ago,  showing,  of  course,  how  much  I  am  a  creature  of 
circumstances. 

"  Nov.  11th. — Got  an  early  start  this  morning.  Reached 
Kazombo,  a  clump  of  villages,  the  last  of  the  Valuimbe.  The 
population  seems  to  be  very  scarce,  and  food  only  of  the  poorest 
sort  is  to  be  had.  There  are  many  fine-looking  people  amongst 
these  Valuimbe,  but  they  have  been  spoiled  so  by  their  wretched 
Bihe  neighbours  that  a  line  of  sadness  seems  to  have  been 
woven  through  them.  Lofty  foreheads,  long  serious-looking 
faces,  fantastically  cut  heads  of  hair,  and  sparse  clothing  are 
points  noticeable. 

"  Nov.  12th. — Pouring  wet  day  and  very  cold,  quite  over- 
powering after  yesterday's  heat.    I  was  quite  feverish  all  night. 

169 


160  IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE 

The  reaction  from  strain  of  work  during  these  last  few  days, 
and  the  long  walk  under  yesterday's  glaring  sun,  have  proved 
a  little  too  much  for  me.  I  remain  here  at  Kazombo  buying 
food,  as  the  report  is  that  food  is  very  scarce  for  10  days  ahead. 

"  I  have  just  heard  a  report,  which  I  have  reason  to  believe 
to  be  true,  that  the  Matabele  have  arrived  at  the  Barotse, 
killing  off  the  people  by  hundreds  and  that  they  have  cleared 
the  country  of  cattle. 

"  Nov.  ISth. — A  very  long  day's  journey  to-day.  Crossed 
the  Kulabe  and  Undumba  rivers,  and  passed  through  a  large 
tract  of  deserted  country  with  here  and  there  the  ruins  of 
villages.  Much  of  the  land  had  the  appearance  of  having  been 
cultivated  but  a  few  years  ago.  My  men  tell  me  that  the 
Chibokwe,  who  used  to  live  here,  have  all  moved  south  to 
virgin  country. 

"  It  is  refreshing  to  meet  with  a  case  of  hearty  gratitude  from 
even  one  of  those  for  whom  one  seeks  to  labour.  A  young  man 
travelling  with  my  company  has  been  lame  for  a  long  time 
from  a  broken  toe  which  would  not  heal.  I  have  been  dressing 
it  and  doctoring  it  for  three  weeks  every  day,  and  at  last  it 
shows  signs  of  healing.  He  came  to  me  to-day  with  his  face 
beaming  with  joy  saying  that  at  last  he  could  walk,  '  I  have 
nothing  but  myself  to  pay  you  with,'  he  said,  with  tears  in  his 
eyes. 

"  Nov.  IMh. — A  long  seven  hours'  journey.  Crossed  three 
good-sized  rivers  unknown  to  map  makers.  Camped  near  the 
head  of  the  Yalowa.  The  country  is  well  wooded  and  has 
abundance  of  water,  but  uninhabited  by  either  man  or  beast. 
How  the  greed  of  other  nations  has  scourged  and  stripped 
Africa,  as  those  silent  hills  declare  ! 

"  Nov.  IGth. — Passed  through  an  interesting  country  in 
regard  to  the  river  systems  of  Africa.  In  the  early  morning 
passed  the  head  of  the  Kutia  flowing  N.W.  to  the  Kwanza. 
An  hour  and  a  half  later  we  reached  the  head  of  the  Monyangwe 
flowing  N.E.  to  the  Kassai  and  on  to  the  Congo.  Another 
hour  and  a  half  and  we  reached  the  feeders  of  the  Elume  flow- 
ing E.  and  S.E.  to  the  Zambesi.  We  also  encountered  tremend- 
ous showers  of  rain  at  this  point,  drenching  everyone  and  nearly 
everything.  We  trudged  on  for  an  hour  in  the  storm.  I  shall 
not  soon  forget  tliis  '  fountain  of  waters.' 

"  Nov.  18th. — Marched  for  eight  hours  through  a  country 


IN  NEED  OF  PATIENCE  161 

bearing  all  the  signs  of  having  been  at  one  time  inhabited,  but 
now  deserted.    Was  compelled  to  press  on  for  want  of  food. 

"  Nov.  19th. — It  was  a  pleasant  sight  to-day  to  see  even 
a  few  women  in  a  field  hoeing,  and  to  hear  their  cry  of  welcome. 
I  managed  to  buy  some  bird-seed  from  some  natives  by  the 
roadside.  In  the  evening  we  reached  the  Lumese  River,  all 
very  tired.  I  felt  an  unspeakable  sense  of  thankfulness  at 
getting  over  this  part  of  the  journey.  It  has  been  so  hungry 
and  so  ghastly,  for  human  bones  and  skulls  were  met  with 
every  few  hours'  journey. 

"  Nov.  20th. — A  short  journey  brought  us  to  Peho.  On  the 
map  this  place  is  marked  with  a  dot  and  a  circle  round  it. 
It  might  be  mistaken  for  a  walled  city,  but  on  getting  over 
the  hill  I  could  find  no  trace  of  either  town  or  village.  There 
was  not  even  a  garden  or  cultivated  field  to  be  seen.  Could  this 
really  be  Peho  ?  My  men  proposed  that  we  go  up  the  valley 
and  camp  close  by  the  '  capital.'  I  went  on  confidently  expect- 
ing to  see  something.  We  camped,  however,  in  thick  bush. 
About  an  hour  after  the  chief.  Soma  Kalenge,  came  down 
through  the  bushes.  He  is  a  young  fellow  about  two-and- 
twenty.  He  was  drunk  with  honey  beer.  His  followers  were 
all  most  disappointing  in  their  appearance. 

"  I  gave  him  80  yards  of  cloth,  and  had  to  add  to  it  a  jacket, 
a  pair  of  trousers,  a  hat,  a  pair  of  shoes,  and  a  lot  of  smaller 
things.  It  was  a  case  of  give  and  get  on,  or  refuse  and  remain 
to  starve,  for  scarce  a  bite  of  food  could  be  got  at  any  price. 
Indeed  the  fellow  made  me  quite  nervous  by  his  constant 
begging,  then  demanding.  He  would  pry  into  everything,  sit 
on  my  chair,  take  off  my  hat,  feel  my  skin,  let  off  my  gun,  and 
a  host  of  things. 

"  In  the  evening,  hoping  to  find  the  chief  sober,  I  went  to 
visit  him.  The  '  capital  '  I  found  to  be  a  few  scattered  huts 
in  a  wood.  I  do  not  suppose  there  were  20  people — men,  Avomen 
and  children — in  the  whole  place.  The  chief  got  a  rickety  old 
chair  out  of  a  grass  hut  for  me  to  sit  on.  It  did  not  look  as 
if  it  had  been  sat  on  for  many  years.  He  gave  me  a  goat,  and 
wanted  to  know  to  a  day  how  long  it  would  take  him  to  learn 
to  read  and  write.  He  said  that  I  must  not  think  of  leaving 
to-morrow.  I  must  give  the  blood  of  the  goat,  which  he  had 
given  me  to  slaughter,  time  to  sink  under  the  surface  before  I 
could  leave  my  camp,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Chibokwe. 

L 


162  IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE 

The  only  thing  the  chief  had  to  show  me  in  his  town  was  his 
'  three  mothers.'  He  wanted  me  to  show  these  my  white  arm. 
The  solemn  way  in  which  he  declared  that  he  was  born  of  three 
mothers  completely  upset  me  and  I  laughed  out,  at  which  he 
looked  quite  doAMicast  and  said,  '  Did  I  think  he  was  an 
ordinary  person  ?  ' 

"  Nov.  21st. — The  chief  came  to  visit  me  again  this  morning, 
and  sat  a  weary  two  hours  in  my  tent  looking  at  everything. 
Then  began  the  begging.  I  managed  to  put  him  off  until  the 
afternoon.  He  wants  a  box  with  lock  and  key,  a  suit  of  clothes 
like  mine,  hat,  boots,  shirt,  plates,  a  knife  and  fork,  etc.  etc. 
We  shall  see  ! 

"  In  the  evening  he  returned  ;  then  began  a  long  game  of 
try  and  pull — begging  this,  demanding  that,  exchanging  this, 
refusing  some  other  thing,  opening  loads  in  perfect  desperation 
that  I  had  never  thought  to  open  until  my  journey's  end — 
until  I  was  completely  used  up.  I  felt  every  bit  of  patience  and 
good  humour  had  entirely  gone.  Never  did  I  meet  with  such  a 
miserable  and  trying  crew.  It  seemed  at  times  that  they 
would  be  pleased  with  nothing  but  all  I  had.  Darkness,  how- 
ever, put  an  end  to  the  fight.  He  professed  to  be  satisfied  after 
getting  60  yards  of  cloth  out  of  me,  one  of  my  jackets  and 
trousers,  shirt,  candles,  tin  fruit,  and  some  powder  from  one 
of  my  men,  etc.  He  left,  giving  me  abundant  assurances  of 
his  intention  to  return  to-morrow.  I  had  intended  going  by 
the  Luena  road,  but  he  would  not  permit  me,  saying  I  must 
keep  on  Cameron's  road.  My  men  are  uproarious  about  this, 
saying  '  No  food  there.  We  will  never  reach  our  destination.' 
However,  I  have  no  alternative.  I  am  no  fighting  man.  I  am 
instructed  to  be  subject  to  the  powers  that  be.  And  these 
Peho  folk  robbed  a  caravan  a  few  weeks  ago  for  some  trivial 
reason,  and  took  over  60  teeth  of  ivory.  I  might  take  the 
Luena  road  in  spite  of  those  here,  and  get  clear  off  but  I  know 
I  could  not  return  to  Peho  again  in  peace.  I  thank  the  Lord  for 
bringing  me  through  this  day  in  such  quietness,  in  spite  of  myself 
I  may  say.    And  I  know  that  He  will  keep  me  all  the  days. 

"  Nov.  22nd.- — Very  wet  looking  this  morning.  A  shower  of 
rain  fell  as  we  were  getting  ready  to  start.  It  cleared  a  little, 
and  I  felt  justified  in  ordering  a  start.  We  had  not  gone  far, 
however,  when  the  rain  came  down  in  sheets  and  continued 
for  about  two  hours.    There  was  no  help  for  it  but  to  push  on 


IN   NEED   OF   PATIENCE  163 

to  the  nead  of  the  Luena  River,  where  we  camped.  There  are 
a  few  scattered  huts  here  occupied  by  retainers  of  Peho,  but 
no  food  for  sale  save  a  few  mushrooms  and  some  manioc.  After 
all,  rain  and  mud  are  better  things  to  the  traveller  than  hunger 
and  never-to-be-contented  chiefs. 

"  Nov.  23rd. — Constant  rain  this  morning  so  remain  in  camp. 
My  men  are  pretty  nearly  at  their  wits'  end  with  hunger  and 
bad  weather. 

"  Nov.  24<th. — A  dark  wet  morning.  I  had  hoped  to  remain 
to-day  again  in  camp,  but  the  men  would  not  hear  of  it,  so 
off  we  started  and  marched  for  more  than  three  hours  in  a 
drenching  rain,  and  ^vith  a  cold  east  wind,  down  the  Luena 
River.  '  Cold  and  rain  -will  not  kill  us,'  the  men  said,  '  but 
hunger  will.  We  must  get  to  some  place  where  there  is  food.' 
Our  course  lay  along  the  north  bank  of  the  Luena.  The  rain 
cleared  off  towards  midday  when  we  had  two  hours  of  fair 
weather  which  gave  us  time  to  cross  the  river  and  camp  on  its 
east  bank. 

"  Nov.  25th. — A  long  seven  hours'  steady  march  through 
a  virgin  forest,  i.e.  one  not  annually  swept  by  grass  fires  like 
other  parts  of  the  country.  It  was  most  tortuous  work,  it 
being  impossible  to  step  out  of  the  deep,  narrow  path,  as  the 
whole  forest  seemed  to  be  covered  by  layer  upon  layer  of  fallen 
trees  and  branches,  all  of  which  were  woven  together  into  one 
woody  mass  by  a  long  dense  ferny  moss.  Camped  at  the  head 
of  the  Shemoi  River  where  there  is  quite  a  number  of  people. 
Mosiko,  the  chief,  came  to  visit  me.  I  gave  him  eight  yards  of 
cloth,  some  salt  and  ten  cartridges.  In  the  evening  a  crowd 
came  along  to  the  camp  with  drums  and  singing.  They  have 
all  the  wild  ways  of  my  old  interior  friends.  They  are  fond  of 
night  dancing. 

"  Nov.  2Gth. — These  people  have  danced  and  drummed  and 
sung  all  night  until  I  have  been  nearly  demented,  yet  to  have 
turned  them  off  would  have  been  a  great  incivility.  This 
morning  I  had  to  pay  them  four  yards  of  cloth  and  2  lb.  of 
salt  for  their  pains  in  afflicting  me.  They  gave  me,  however, 
two  pigs,  a  goat  and  some  fowls. 

"  Nov.  27th. — A  short  but  hot  journey  along  the  Shemoi 
River  brought  us  to  camp  at  Boma's.  During  the  first  two 
hours  the  road  was  lined  with  people.  Nothing  was  to  be  seen 
but  trees  and  footpaths,  but  there  were  the  people  in  crowds. 


164  IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE 

So  I  had  to  suppose  that  their  towns  were  close  by  and  that 
they  had  expected  my  coming.  They  were  very  civil  and 
evidently  delighted  by  the  shouting  they  made.  They  said 
that  a  white  man  had  never  passed  this  way  before,  and  that 
I  was  the  first  they  had  ever  seen.  They  had  heard,  however, 
of  Cameron  passing  to  the  north.  As  my  face  and  hands  are 
something  nearer  bro^\^^  than  white  I  had  to  show  them  my 
arms.  When  I  did  so  they  all  gave  a  shout  '  Culungu  !  '  (it  is 
God)  and  whooped  and  whooped.  It  was  so  deafening  that  I 
was  glad  to  whip  on  my  ox  and  get  off. 

"  In  return  for  my  eight  yards,  Boma  sent  me  a  good  pig 
(the  third  pork  "within  three  days)  and  his  people  threatened 
me  with  another  night's  serenading.  I  confess  a  cold  sweat 
broke  over  me  at  the  very  thought  of  it.  Travelling  all  day 
under  such  a  sun  (it  is  now  at  its  hottest)  gives  one  a  splitting 
headache  relieved  only  by  a  night's  sleep.  But  to  have  sun 
by  day  and  drums  and  singing  all  night  would,  I  fear,  put  an 
end  to  my  earthly  career.  I  sent  a  present  of  meat  to  the  town 
beseeching  them  not  to  come  to  the  camp. 

"  Nov.  28th. — The  musicians  of  Boma  have  shown  them- 
selves to  be  a  worthy  people.  They  contented  themselves 
Math  coming  only  half-way  to  my  camj^,  and  there  they  danced 
and  sang  until  morning.  Extraordinary  people  !  They  have 
no  capacity  to  contain  a  little  extra  excitement,  but  must 
dance  and  drum  it  out. 

"  This  morning  I  was  escorted  a  long  way  on  the  road  by 
a  band  of  children — ^laughing,  singing,  merry  little  ones  ! 
No  sight  so  reminds  me  of  home,  and  none  is  so  touching. 

"  Crossed  a  wooded  hill  and  camped  by  the  Dala  Cavala, 
a  large  river  which  flows  into  the  Luena.  Here  also  there  are 
many  people.  They  are  more  scattered  and  come  from  all 
directions.  Food  is  abundant  and  cheap  :  a  young  pig  for 
I  yard  of  limbo  and  a  fowl  for  two  to  three  spoonfuls  of  salt. 
The  people  are  poorly  clad  but  healthy-looking. 

"  Nov.  29th,  Sunday. — Remained  in  camp.  Four  of  my 
men,  who  were  buying  wax  yesterday,  say  they  will  remain 
here  and  Mill  lay  down  their  loads.  I  simply  told  them  that 
if  they  would  return  they  would  have  to  go  as  they  were  with 
only  their  clothes  around  them,  and  that  I  had  no  intention 
of  paying  them  for  carrying  my  goods  into  the  forest  and 
leaving  them  there.    I  also  threatened  to  take  their  wax  and 


IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE  105 

all  they  had  from  them,  which  I  certainly  had  a  right  to  do 
and  would  have  done.  I  further  told  them  that  on  my  return 
to  Bihe  I  would  bring  a  charge  against  them.  In  this  nearly 
all  the  rest  of  the  men  supported  me,  and  by  evening  they 
had  decided  to  take  their  loads  and  to  go  on  quietly. 

"  I  spent  most  of  the  afternoon  reading  and  explaining,  as 
best  I  could,  passages  of  Scripture  in  Portuguese  to  the  two 
mulattoes  who  are  with  me.  They  in  turn  explained  to  my 
carriers,  who  told  all  over  again  to  the  crowd  of  aboriginals 
around. 

"  Nov.  30th. — Early  this  morning  we  again  reached  the 
Luena  River,  now  quite  a  large  stream,  and  had  much  trouble 
in  getting  the  goods  across  by  a  roughly-made  bridge,  half  sunk 
in  the  river.  I  took  my  ox  further  up  to  clear  water,  and  drove 
him  across,  and  then  rolling  my  clothes,  hke  a  great  turban, 
round  my  head,  I  swam  after  him. 

"  We  had  not  gone  far  on  the  other  side  when  a  company 
met  us  vnth  drums  and  a  goat  tied,  asking  me  to  camp  by  their 
town.  I  gave  Sumbula,  the  chief,  eight  yards,  a  little  salt  and 
ten  cartridges.  In  the  evening  he  came  along  to  my  camp 
with  some  meal  and  entreated  me  to  remain  to-morrow  and 
eat  an  ox  with  him.  I  tried  all  I  could  to  avoid  this  as  it  would 
mean  my  giving  more  cloth,  but  he  was  not  to  be  beaten  off. 
He  used  every  argument  he  could,  saying  were  I  but  to  eat  his 
ox  all  the  people  round  would  know  him  to  be  a  liberal  and  a 
great  chief,  and  a  friend  of  the  white  man.  He  urged  me  not 
to  think  of  what  I  would  have  to  pay  him,  upon  which  he 
lifted  a  twig  and  broke  it  throwing  a  part  over  each  shoulder, 
their  mode  of  giving  a  receipt  for  debt,  implying  that  the 
ox  he  gave  me  was  bought  and  paid  for.  To  refuse  after  this 
would  be  far  from  wise,  so  I  agreed  to  eat  the  ox.  Sumbula 
spent  the  afternoon  with  me,  and  was  very  pleased  to  talk 
as  long  as  I  liked.  I  gave  him  a  hat  and  a  dress  of  print-cloth 
as  a  token  of  our  friendship,  and  he  gave  a  guide  to  take  us, 
by  a  shorter  route,  to  the  next  camp. 

"  I  sat  up  until  late  writing  out  my  diary  for  mother,  as  sleep 
was  impossible  on  account  of  five  drums  and  30  lusty  voices 
serenading. 

"  Dec.  1st,  1885. — Feehng  far  from  fresh  this  morning,  and 
certainly  very  unequal  to  my  task  of  eating  an  ox.  The  sound 
of  drums  is  in  every  chamber  of  my  brain. 


166  IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE 

"  Dec.  2nd. — Arrived  at  the  head  of  the  Chonga  River. 
Here  there  were  many  villages,  and  a  perfect  crowd  of  people 
came  to  the  camp.  The  pressing  and  crowding  until  late  at 
night  to  get  a  look  at  the  white  man  was  somewhat  trying  ; 
they  meant  well,  so  I  had  no  option  but  to  take  it  patiently 
and  all  in  good  part.  These  people  have  been  away  in  the 
Lunda  country  raiding,  and  have  been  completely  beaten. 
They  are  coming  back  in  twos  and  threes  with  nothing  but 
sticks  in  their  hands.  Many  have  been  killed.  All  about  they 
are  much  downcast  and  fear  more  evil  awaits  them,  as  with 
an  African  one  evil  leads  to  another.  I  took  the  opportunity 
of  pointing  out  to  a  circle  of  natives  around  my  tent  the 
miserable  hves  they  lived  because  they  had  so  many  things 
to  trust  in  and  so  many  things  to  fear.  I  told  them  of  the 
perfect  contentment  and  peace  I  enjoyed  because  I  trusted 
only  in  God,  and  counted  all  other  things  as  nothing.  The 
exclamation  came  in  reply  from  every  lip  :  '  But  how  can  we 
do  so  when  we  do  not  know  God  ?  ' 

"  Dec.  3rd. — Reached  the  capital  of  the  Kangombe  to-day. 
The  Chibokwe  country  is  passed,  and  I  am  now  in  the  Lovale, 
i.e.  '  The  Flats.'  The  Balovale  (people  of  the  fiats)  are  in  many 
respects  superior  to  the  Bachokwe,  in  the  sense  that  they  make 
better  inhabitants  of  a  country,  being  less  given  to  wandering. 
I  am  amused  to  see  how  fond  they  are  of  singing-birds  ;  these 
have  a  regular  current  value  among  them,  and  their  neatly- 
made  cages  are  to  be  seen  hanging  about  all  their  %dllages.  I 
notice  here,  close  by  my  camp,  that  they  have  made  a  large 
fish  dam.  I  have  never  before  seen  natives,  untaught  by 
whites,  dam  a  river  for  any  purpose.  Kangombe  is  quite  a 
powerful  man.    His  fame  has  spread  far. 

"  Dec.  Uh. — Remained  in  camp.  Kangombe  came  to  see 
me ;  a  very  small  -  looking  man  indeed,  who  seemed  quite 
afraid  to  come  into  my  tent,  and  wanted  to  sit  down  on  the 
ground.  I  gave  him  my  chair,  but  that  was  another  difiEiculty 
for  him.  How  was  he  to  sit  on  it  ?  At  last  he  ventured  side- 
ways on  the  furthest  corner  of  it,  looking  suspiciously  at  the 
back  of  the  chair.  He  never  asked  for  anything,  but  kept 
looking  about  him,  and  then  at  me,  with  a  pair  of  eyes  like 
needles  for  sharpness.  He  was  sorry  I  could  only  remain  with 
him  one  day,  and  gave  me  a  goat  as  a  present. 

"  Dec.  6th. — There  is  a  company  of  Garenganze,  I  am  told, 


IN  NEED  OF  PATIENCE  167 

camped  a  few  days  from  here.  They  are  in  distress.  Some 
Bihe  traders  have  been  stirring  up  the  Balovale  to  rob  them  in 
payment  for  goods  of  theirs  lost  in  the  interior. 

"  Dec.  7th. — The  man  in  charge  of  the  Garenganze  caravan 
has  come  on  to  me  in  great  distress  saying  that  he  and  his 
companions  are  beset  by  Biheans,  who  threaten  to  rob  them 
if  not  to  kill  them.  The  camp  of  Biheans  we  passed  yesterday 
are  active  in  this  affair.  Some  six  teeth  have  already  been 
paid  by  the  Garenganze.  This  man  in  charge  is  only  too  anxious 
to  get  rid  of  his  ivory  and  to  return  with  me.  They  are  at  a 
loss  to  know  what  to  do.  I  cannot  advise  them.  I  say  if  they 
want  to  return  they  can  go  with  me,  but  that  if  they  Avant 
to  go  on  I  can  say  nothing.  I  know  that  the  chief  of  Bihe  will 
not  rob  them,  whatever  his  people  may  do  outside  of  his 
country  enraged  with  losses  in  the  interior. 

"  Dec.  8th. — At  the  request  of  the  leader  of  the  Garenganze 
caravan  I  remain  in  camp  again  to-day.  They  have,  however, 
decided  to  go  on  to  Bihe,  as  to  return  to  their  country  would 
mark  them  as  cowards.  The  leader,  a  son  of  Msidi,  the  Garen- 
ganze chief,  asked  me  to  sell  him  some  cloth  to  buy  provision.^ 
with  on  the  road.  He  said  his  father  would  most  surely  pay 
me.  I  gave  him  some  cloth,  a  little  powder,  and  a  gun  which 
one  of  my  men  was  carrying. 

"  Dec.  9th. — Was  not  much  surprised  to  find  this  morning 
that  four  of  my  men  had  run  off  during  the  night.  At  first  I 
thought  there  was  no  help  for  it  but  to  leave  the  loads  here. 
However,  after  a  little  delay  men  were  found  willing  to  carry 
the  loads  on  to  the  border  of  the  Lunda  country. 

"  We  camped  by  the  Lumese  River.  My  men  are  crying 
'  hunger  '  and  want  me  to  dispense  rations  here  six  days  short 
of  the  regular  place  for  receiving  the  same.  I  do  not  feel  at 
liberty  to  pay  them.  It  is  not  a  case  of  getting  along  at  any 
cost.  After  much  talking  and  loud  threatening,  a  little  too 
loud  to  be  fulfilled,  10  more  carriers  packed  up  and  started 
for  the  road  by  which  they  had  come.  I  made  no  compromise 
whatever  with  them  and  was  fully  prepared  to  remain  here, 
and  began  looking  about  to  see  what  sort  of  building  material 
the  country  possessed.  My  men,  however,  have  thought  better 
of  it  as  they  have  returned  by  another  road  to  camp,  all  except 
the  four  who  left  last  night. 

"  Dec.  lOlh. — Crossed  the  Lumese  River  this  morning  on 


168  IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE 

a  wooden  bridge  and  entered  upon  a  flat,  thinly  wooded  land. 
We  are  now  nearly  at  the  end  of  the  Lovale  country  proper 
although  many  of  the  Balovale  wiU  be  met  with  in  the  Lunda 
country  on  ahead.  Women  chiefs  are  very  plentiful  among 
these  people.  Every  little  district  has  its  male  and  female 
chief  Uving  in  different  villages,  often  brother  and  sister  or 
mother  and  son.  There  is  not  much  difference  seemingly 
between  the  sexes  among  the  Lovale  as  to  liberty,  work,  etc. 
Men,  working  in  the  fields,  are  as  common  a  sight  as  women. 
Women  also  come  about  camp  on  business  of  their  own,  such 
as  selling  wax,  etc.,  without  appearing  to  be  in  subjection  to 
anyone.  Indeed  they  are  rather  too  free  and  too  much  at 
liberty,  I  think,  considering  the  low  moral  condition  of 
themselves  and  of  the  tribes  around. 

"  The  Lovale  people  seem  to  be  much  given  to  music  and 
night  dancing.  Every  day  my  camp  is  beset  more  or  less  \vith 
musicians,  fiddlers,  singers  and  comic  dancers.  Singing-birds 
are  to  be  seen  in  all  their  \dllages. 

"  The  appearance  of  their  villages  seems  to  be  quite  in  keep- 
ing with  their  light-headed  ways.  A  few  grass  huts  (often 
neatly  built  and  ornamented)  scattered  round  a  large  tree 
in  the  bush.  Little  is  done  in  the  way  of  clearing,  and  often 
the  grass  and  weeds  of  the  forest  nearly  overtop  the  houses  so 
that  they  appear  to  one  approaching  like  so  many  beehives. 

"  The  custom  of  selling  their  own  children  (a  practice,  the 
traders  tell  me,  peculiar  to  the  Balovale)  is  now  nearly  extinct, 
but  is  quite  in  keeping  with  the  temperament  of  the  people. 

"  The  Balovale  are  faithful  practisers  of  circumcision,  and 
the  rite,  I  am  told,  is  gone  through  Math  much  ceremony. 

"  Dec.  11th. — A  short  journey  brought  us  to  the  border  of 
the  Kifumadshe  Flat  (there  is  no  lake  as  marked  in  the  map). 
The  river  of  this  name  rises  in  the  centre  of  a  flat,  flooded  and 
impassable  from  January  to  April  or  May  ;  it  could  not  even 
be  called  a  marsh,  as  the  ground  here  is  sandy  and  firm,  "with 
grass  and  trees  growing  upon  a  host  of  mounds  made  by  ants. 
I  went  out  in  the  afternoon  to  try  and  get  some  meat  for  my 
men,  and  shot  an  antelope.  My  men  look  on  this  as  a  good 
omen  for  the  journey  on  ahead,  as  every  day  now  game 
increases. 

"  Dec.  12th. — Rain  this  morning  ;  remain  in  camp.  Every 
day  now  lost  \^'ill  tell  on  us  crossing  this  flat  as  it  is  rapidly 


IN   NEED   OF   PATIENCE  169 

filling  with  water,  and  in  a  very  short  time  will  be  quite 
impassable. 

"  Dec.  ISth. — Another  wet,  threatening  morning.  After  a 
little  palaver  and  delay,  however,  I  decided  to  start.  To  get 
away  from  the  habitable  parts  of  the  earth  was,  I  confess, 
a  strong  inducement,  as  I  am  exhausted  with  the  begging  of 
the  people.  Every  few  miles,  and  there  is  a  little  chieftain  to 
be  pacified  \Ndth  a  gift.  It  is  most  amusing  to  see  the  airs  of 
greatness  they  choose  to  put  on.  One  man  may  have  under 
him  a  few  villages  containing  in  all  perhaps  100  souls,  and  a 
few  pigs,  and  he  calls  himself  a  king  and  will  not  listen  to  any 
reasonable  talk,  and  will  keep  my  men  trotting  backwards  and 
forwards  between  my  camp  and  his  capital  (?)  a  whole  day 
with  bits  of  presents  and  talk.  No  matter  how  much  or  how 
little  I  choose  to  give  at  the  first  th:  dignity  of  such  kings 
is  not  satisfied  with  less  than  a  '  three  times  giving.' 

"  The  first  few  hours  in  the  flat  were  most  fatiguing,  wading 
in  water  up  to  the  knees.  Further  on  the  ground  was  firmer. 
About  midday  we  camped,  choosing  a  clump  of  mounds 
formed  by  colonies  of  termites,  each  mound  being  large  enough 
to  contain  three  small  grass  huts,  or  rather  shelters.  I  pitched 
my  tent  on  one.  Thus  my  tent  was  scattered  over  something 
like  a  square  mile  of  marsh.  Though  the  water  around  me  is 
knee  deep,  I  feel  quite  snug  in  my  tent  on  this  dry  spot. 

"  Dec.  lUh. — Six  long  hours  of  one  continual  wade  brought 
us  again  to  camp  in  the  midst  of  water.  I  managed  to  pitch 
my  tent  on  a  clump  of  small  tufts  or  clods.  And  by  a  skilful 
placing  of  my  chair  and  cot  bed  in  such  a  way  so  that  each  foot 
got  a  clod  to  rest  on,  I  managed  to  keep  above  water. 

"  Dec.  16th. — Crossed  the  Kifumadshe  River  and  camped 
quite  late.  Here  my  men  began  to  misbehave  to  the  best  of 
their  ability,  laying  down  their  loads,  demanding  more  rations, 
then  meat  :  '  Meat,  Monare,  give  us  meat ;  why  don't  you 
hunt  ?  you  are  starving  us.'  I  lifted  my  gun  to  go.  I  was, 
I  must  confess,  sadly  out  of  temper,  and  kept  scolding  them 
while  I  was  tugging  the  cover  off  my  gun,  when  it  suddenly 
went  off,  shattering  the  point  of  my  left  forefinger.  There  was 
no  one  who  could  dress  a  wound,  so  I  thought  the  cleanest  and 
safest  way  would  be  to  cut  off  the  top  joint  of  the  finger.  I  got 
a  lancet  out  of  my  case,  and  my  man,  Kasoma,  cut  according 
to  my  directions.    This  effectually  cooled  my  anger  ;   indeed, 


170  IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE 

I  was  compelled  to  rejoice  at  the  mercy  of  God.  Two  verses 
came  forcibly  to  my  mind  :  '  You  only  have  I  known  of  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  :  therefore  I  will  punish  you  for  all  your 
iniquities  '  ;  and  '  the  Lord  loveth  judgment,  and  forsaketh 
not  His  saints.'  I  have  given  way  time  after  time  lately  to 
fits  of  temper,  with  no  one  by  to  rebuke  me.  I  acknowledge 
His  great  goodness  and  pity  towards  me  in  thus  rebuking  me. 
My  men  cannot  understand  my  joy. 

"  Dec.  17th. — Slept  nearly  all  night.  Arose  once  or  twice 
to  bathe  my  hand.  Started  early  this  morning.  My  finger 
shows  signs  of  healing  up  rapidly.  No  swelling  or  pain  beyond 
the  injured  part.  This  accident  has  effectually  calmed  down 
my  men,  for  the  present  at  least.  Not  a  word  about  more 
rations,  heavy  loads,  etc.,  but  all  are  doing  their  best  to  please 
me,  bringing  wild  fruit  to  me  and  standing  round  with  long  faces. 
Happily  they  acknowledge  that  it  was  chiefly  because  of  their 
troubling  yesterday  that  I  got  '  mad  '  and  shot  off  my  finger. 

"  Dec.  18th. — Remained  here  so  that  my  men  might  lay 
in  a  stock  of  fish. 

"  Dec.  19th. — A  short  journey  along  the  Lutembwa  brought 
us  to  another  small  chief.  Being  a  relative  of  Katema's,  he 
would  have  me  remain  next  day,  which  I  did  to  my  sorrow. 
All  forenoon  was  spent  in  holding  out  against  his  demands. 
I  had  given  him  eight  yards  of  cloth,  for  which  he  gave  me  a 
goat,  and  then  wanted  more  cloth,  a  jacket,  etc.  After  four 
or  five  hours  of  this  work  I  began  to  doze  in  my  chair,  and  the 
chief  rose  and  left ;  he  sent  his  man  in  the  morning,  however,  to 
ask  for  more.     I  could  but  refuse  and  tell  the  man  to  go  home. 

"  Dec.  20th. — Delayed  this  morning  waiting  on  a  guide  as 
the  chief  did  not  turn  up  according  to  his  promise.  We  marched 
a  few  hours  along  the  Lutembwa  and  camped  at  Kapwita.  In 
the  afternoon  chief  No.  1  turned  up,  with  his  little  stool, 
retinue,  etc.  He  had  brought  a  goat  and  some  meal.  I  paid 
him  six  yards.  A  little  later  chief  No.  2  came  along.  He 
was  a  '  big  man,'  and  every  one  who  had  come  to  the  camp 
declared  that  he  was  their  chief.  I  gave  him  the  usual  tribute, 
regretting  only  my  liberality  to  the  former  '  pretender.'  To- 
wards evening,  however,  another  lot  came  along  from  Kapwita, 
the  '  true  chief,'  the  '  great  chief.'  At  this  my  indignation 
began  to  come  out.  '  Three  chiefs  for  the  one  camp  !  '  Never  ! 
I  would  not  hear  of  it.    After  much  discussion  and  quarrelling 


IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE  171 

between  my  men  and  the  people,  I  had  to  fork  out  again  eight 
yards  to  No.  3,  whom  I  have  no  doubt  is  the  real  chief  of 
the  place,  if  chief  there  be.  But  the  whole  thing  was  cleverly 
planned.  No  device  is  forgotten  or  opportunity  lost  to  delay 
and  fleece  me. 

"  In  spite  of  their  troublesome  ways  there  is  much  about 
these  Balunda  I  like.  Their  villages  are  kept  clean  and  they 
have  good  gardens,  and  the  men  work  in  the  fields  as  well  as 
the  women.  They  seem  to  be  more  '  religious  '  than  their 
neighbours.  One  sees  continually  in  the  forests  small  clearings 
about  the  trunk  of  some  immense  tree,  with  a  double  rail 
round,  and  some  '  fetish  thing  '  in  front,  in  the  shape  of  a  horn 
or  image,  and  there  the  people  come  to  offer  to  their  forefathers. 
Many  fetish  huts  are  also  to  be  seen  in  their  villages. 

"  Dec.  2l5^. — Kapwita  came  along  this  morning  very  early 
with  a  whole  crowd.  He  was  not  pleased  with  his  tribute 
and  came  to  return  it.  I  refused  to  take  it  back  and  after  a 
little  talk  I  gave  him  two  yards  more  and  got  off  out  of  camp. 
Our  road  lay  at  once  across  the  Lutembwa  valley.  Nearly  all 
the  way  the  water  was  waist  deep.  A  beautiful  mangrove- 
like forest  lay  midway,  also  submerged  in  water.  Each  immense 
tree  had  a  fern-covered  clump  at  its  roots,  and  in  some  places 
the  branches  and  forest  creepers  were  festooned  with  long 
lichen-like  moss  of  a  pale  transparent  colour,  streaming  down 
in  icicle-like  prongs  touching  the  glistening  water,  and  con- 
trasting beautifully  mth  the  deep  emerald-green  moss  in  the 
water.  When  we  came  to  one  open  spot  like  a  lagoon,  thus 
decked  all  round,  I  thought,  in  the  clear  morning  light,  it  was 
a  place  of  the  most  delicate  and  delightful  scenery  I  had  yet 
seen. 

"  Reached  old  Katema  early  in  the  day.  I  am  glad  to  say 
there  is  a  '  chief  '  here. 

"  Dec.  22nd. — This  morning  Katema  sent  me  a  present  of 
a  woman  slave  with  infant  in  arms — a  pitiful  sight.  The  chief's 
messengers  said  that  food  was  to  follow,  but  that  Katema 
could  not  give  to  a  white  man  a  present  of  food  only.  I  asked 
them  as  a  favour  to  take  the  woman  back  ;  and  if  they  would 
only  send  her  to  her  own  village  and  among  her  own  people, 
and  never  think  of  giving  her  away  again  to  strangers,  I  should 
be  more  than  pleased.  The  chief,  however,  did  not  quite  under- 
stand my   message,   and   thought   I   had   refused  the   slave 


172  IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE 

because  she  was  full  grown,  and  so  he  sent  back  word  that 
to-morrow  he  would  send  me  a  young  boy  or  girl.  Though 
suffering  a  good  deal  from  my  finger,  which  was  ulcerating,  I 
determined  to  go  to  his  village  and  explain  the  matter.  I 
found  he  was  a  good-looking  man.  He  knew  Livingstone  and 
was  sorry  to  hear  of  his  death.  He  was  quite  satisfied  mth 
my  explanation  about  the  slave.  We  parted  the  best  of  friends. 
I  call  him  a  coloured  gentleman.  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  spend 
more  time  with  him,  but  I  am  hastening  to  Nana  Kandundu, 
where  I  hope  to  get  a  little  rest,  and  where  many  of  my 
men,  I  hear,  intend  to  leave  me.  I  have  some  most  trouble- 
some men  in  my  camp,  who  are  never,  never  satisfied.  Still 
I  rejoice  in  the  opportunity  of  learning  to  bear  patiently 
even  with  such.  They  compel  me  daily  to  walk  by  the  river  of 
my  God. 

"  Dec.  2Mh. — The  grumbling  of  yesterday  has  broken  out 
in  quite  a  storm  this  morning.  '  More  rations  !  '  '  Starva- 
tion !  '  '  We  cannot  carry  further.'  I  know  some  of  my  men 
are  rather  short  of  food.  But  certainly  it  is  their  OAvn  fault. 
Nearly  all  the  cloth  I  divided  amongst  them  at  the  Lumese 
has  been  spent  for  vicious  purposes.  A  band  this  morning 
have  gone  through  the  camp,  threatening  to  belabour  with 
leather  thongs  the  first  to  lift  his  load.  I  left  the  matter 
entirely  in  the  Master's  hands,  being  assured  that  if  Matema 
was  the  place  to  which  He  had  sent  me,  He  would  not  allow 
me  to  go  further.  So  I  withdrew  from  the  camp,  never  dreaming 
that  a  march  could  be  made  to-day.  While  sitting  on  a  log 
I  suddenly  saw  a  general  move  among  the  men  ;  they  came 
out,  one  after  another,  and  went  off,  scarcely  saying  a  word. 
The  truth  was,  the  camp  was  literally  alive  with  '  army  ants,' 
which  came  rushing  in  from  all  directions  ;  and  anyone  who 
knows  anything  about  the  African  ant  will  at  once  understand 
why  my  carriers  turned  out  so  speedily. 

"  We  made  a  good  day's  journej'^,  crossing  two  flooded  rivers. 
The  first  one  I  crossed  on  the  back  of  my  ox  and  he  swam 
bravely.  At  the  second  a  boat  was  waiting.  I  got  in  and 
crossed,  and  had  scarce  got  on  the  other  side  when  my  ox  of 
his  own  accord  sprang  in  and  swam  after  me.  We  camped  by 
a  few  fishermen's  huts,  basking  under  the  sublime  name  of 
Kalilangumbu.  Neither  I  nor  my  men  seemed  to  understand 
very  well  how  we  managed  to  get  here,  yesterday  and  this 


IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE  178 

morning  having  been  spent  in  giving  and  hearing  loud  declara- 
tions that  we  never  should.  My  men  have  gone  about  their 
hut  building  without  a  word,  and  seem  to  be  rather  bashful. 
They  will  break  out,  however,  as  evening  falls.  The  light  of 
the  sun  is  not  in  keeping  %\-ith  their  meanness.  And  all  this 
fighting  and  troubling  is  simply  to  prepare  me  for  a  general 
desertion  at  Nana  Kandundu  (now  kno^vTl  as  Kavungu). 

"  Some  Bihe  traders  have  been  murdered  by  the  natives 
of  the  Lualaba  (not  \\ithout  reason)  and  this  has  softened  the 
hearts  of  most  of  my  men. 

"  In  the  evening  I  called  my  men  together,  intending  to 
give  them  rations.  They,  however,  could  not  agree  together 
and  kept  scolding  each  other.  At  last  I  packed  up  my  cloth 
and  all  went  to  their  huts  again. 

"  Dec.  25//i. — Started  this  morning  without  any  delay. 
Passed  through  a  beautiful  piece  of  country.  The  path  was 
lined  with  branching  palms  and  tropical  plants.  The  road, 
however,  suddenly  turned  and  led  through  a  series  of  black 
slime-holes.  The  contrast  was  worthy  of  a  description  from  the 
pen  of  a  Bunyan.    We  camped  at  Nambanja. 

"  I  paid  my  men  one  yard  each  to  keep  their  pots  going  until 
Nana  Kandundu.  They  discussed  the  matter  a  while,  and  see- 
ing I  was  determined  to  give  no  more  took  the  cloth.  I  hope 
that  this  will  be  the  last  of  this  troubling.  At  Nana  Kandundu 
it  \vill  be  a  case  either  of  go  or  leave  me.  My  goods  I  can  leave 
vnth.  the  chief  there  and  go  on  to  the  Garenganze  with  few  men 
and  send  back  for  my  loads. 

"  Dec.  2Gth. — A  long  day's  journey  brought  us  to  Katonge. 
Here  the  hills  on  the  east  side  of  the  Zambesi  are  in  sight. 
My  brave  men,  having  ceased  for  the  time  to  quarrel  with  me, 
have  been  letting  out  their  spleen  one  against  another.  On 
the  road  they  had  two  free  fights  \nth  sticks.  Then  they  fell 
on  the  Garenganze  men  who  are  with  me,  and  took  a  gun  from 
them. 

"  Dec.  27th. — Remained  in  camp  this  morning  to  settle  the 
dispute.  My  men  say  that  their  fellows  were  robbed  some 
time  ago  by  men  from  the  interior,  that  the  Garenganze  came 
from  the  interior,  and  therefore  they  must  now  pay  them  for 
their  fellows'  loss.  I  paid  12  yards  of  calico  to  get  back  the 
gun,  seeing  it  was  useless  to  dispute  with  people  bent  on 
robbery. 


174  IN  NEED  OF  PATIENCE 

"  Dec.  2Sth. — Another  quarrel  this  morning  between  my 
men  and  the  people  of  the  country.  A  little  dog  in  the  camp 
was  ill  and  vomited,  and  a  native,  who  had  come  to  sell  meal, 
sat  down  beside  the  dog,  and  some  of  the  vomit  came  on  his 
arm.  We  all  declared  it  was  his  o^vn  fault,  and  would  not  pay 
for  this  offence  ;  so  he  and  his  friends  waylaid  us  on  the  road, 
caught  a  straggler,  and  took  his  gun  from  him. 

"  We  camped  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Luvua,  a  large  river 
flowing  into  the  Zambesi. 

"  Dec.  SOth. — A  long  march  to-day  brought  us  to  Nana 
Kandundu's  town.  Towards  the  end  of  the  journey  I  began 
to  stoop  as  usual,  and  when  I  got  into  camp  I  was  down  ; 
liver  giving  me  great  pain,  being  much  swollen. 

"  Dec.  31st. — Was  unable  to  get  up  to-day,  and  could  not 
pay  off  the  few  men.  How  many,  or  rather  how  few,  will  go 
on  with  me  is  very  uncertain.  Nana  Kandundu  came  to  visit 
me.  She  is  a  smart-looking,  elderly  woman,  and  seemingly 
quite  equal  to  her  position. 

"  Jan.  1st,  1886. — This  morning  I  called  my  men  together 
to  give  them  rations,  and  to  know  who  would  journey  further 
and  who  would  not.  I  discovered  that  eight  were  willing  to 
go  on  ;  the  rest  wished  to  return  from  here.  I  said,  '  All 
right  !  '   and  gave  them  their  rations. 

"  Jan.  2nd. — Busy  packing  and  making  ready,  as  the  few 
men  I  have  left  may  change  their  minds  if  I  delay  long  here. 

"  Jan.  Srd. — Three  more  carriers  have  withdrawn  to-day. 

"  Paid  a  visit  to  the  chief tainess,  and  arranged  with  her 
about  leaving  some  of  my  loads.  She  promised  to  take  every 
care  of  them. 

"  On  returning  to  camp  in  the  evening  I  was  distressed  to 
find  my  men  negotiating  with  some  wild  Balunda  for  a  woman 
slave  and  child  (a  little  boy  of  five  or  six  years).  The  woman 
had  been  bargained  for,  but  the  price  of  the  child  was  disputed. 
At  last  the  Balunda  said  they  would  not  sell  the  child,  and  were 
pulling  him  out  of  the  arms  of  his  mother,  who  was  clutching 
him  frantically.  At  this  I  interfered,  and  stopped  the  pro- 
ceedings. They  took  the  hint ;  for  before  I  had  time  to  look 
round  me,  they  snatched  up  their  cloth,  including  the  price 
offered  for  the  child,  and  cleared  away  from  the  camp.  This 
slave  buying  is  a  wretched  business.  I  am  utterly  powerless 
to  interfere  in  the  matter.     It  is  seldom,  however,  that  they 


IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE  175 

purchase  in  camp  ;  they  usually  go  off  to  the  villages  to  do 
this.  Many  of  the  Bihe  traders  say  that  they  would  rather 
have  slaves  than  ivory.  Every  caravan  we  pass  has  strings 
of  slaves. 

"  Jan.  5th. — 111  this  morning  with  swollen  spleen.  In  bed 
nearty  all  day. 

"  Jan.  6th. — Much  better.  Have  sent  15  loads  to  Nana's 
village,  and  am  preparing  to  start  to-morrow. 

"  Jan.  8th. — Started  this  morning  in  fair  style  with  eight 
brave  carriers  for  the  15  days'  long  march  to  the  Lualaba — a 
risky  journey  to  undertake,  as  we  shall  meet  wth  no  food  by 
the  way  except  that  which  I  may  procure  with  my  gun.  For 
my  part  I  am  glad  to  be  off,  as  I  have  been  suffering  the  whole 
time  at  Nana  Kandundu  from  my  old  Zambesi  remittent  fever, 
which  shows  me  clearly  that  anywhere  near  the  Zambesi 
is  not  the  place  for  me.  Marched  for  six  hours  ;  camped  at 
Kamisambu  by  the  Loungashi. 

"  Jan.  lOth. — Marched  for  eight  hours  through  beautiful 
country,  more  tropical-looking  than  any  other  part  of  Africa 
I  have  been  in.  Small  rivers  without  number.  During  the 
day  we  were  overtaken  by  several  tremendous  showers  of  rain, 
soaking  everyone  and  everything  thoroughly.  I  got  into  camp 
at  Maringa,  feeling  so  cold  that  I  was  sure  an  attack  of  fever 
awaited  me  ;  but  a  big  fire,  a  dose  of  quinine,  and  a  cup  of  hot 
tea  brought  me  round. 

"  Jan.  11th. — Made  a  late  start  this  morning.  Had  some 
trouble  in  arranging  my  carriers'  loads.  They  were  all  over- 
laden with  meal,  and  blamed  my  loads  for  breaking  their 
backs.  Crossed  the  Luake  River,  a  large  and  rapid  stream,  but 
with  much  trouble,  as  there  was  a  cataract  at  this  point. 

"  Jan.  12th. — Reached  Sacindonga  early  this  morning.  Here 
I  met  with  a  few  wandering  Balunda,  but  the  country  is  practi- 
cally desolate.  Remains  of  former  towns  and  large  cultivated 
fields,  now  all  weeds,  exist  on  all  sides.  War  parties  from 
the  Lovale,  led  chiefly  by  Kangombe,  have  wrought  these 
devastations. 

"  Jan.  ISth. — Remain  in  camp  this  morning,  as  one  of  my 
carriers  is  ill,  and  the  rest  go  off  foraging  for  food  in  villages 
some  distance  away. 

"  Jan.  lUh. — Marched  this  morning  until  midday.  Camped 
at  a  place  called  Tambwe.    No  signs  of  inhabitants  anywhere. 


176  IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE 

"  Jan.  15th. — A  toilsome  day's  journey.  We  lost  our  way, 
and  wandered  for  some  hours  before  getting  back  to  the  path 
again.    Reached  camp  about  four  in  the  afternoon. 

"  Jan.  IQth. — Pushed  on  and  made  two  ordinary  days' 
journey  in  one,  reaching  a  camp  very  late,  but  only  to  find  it 
occupied  by  a  company  of  Bihe  traders  from  the  Garenganze. 
They  say  I  am  now  within  sixteen  days'  journey  of  my  destina- 
tion— most  welcome  news. 

"  Jan.  17th. — In  camp  to-day.  Men  have  gone  off  to  the 
Zambesi  River,  which  is  quite  near,  to  buy  food.  We  are 
all  very  tired  and  glad  of  the  rest. 

"  Jan.  Idth. — This  morning  I  gave  up  my  ox  to  a  lad  in  the 
company,  who  had  been  bought  by  one  of  my  men  at  Nana 
Kandundu,  and  could  not  walk  further.  The  carriers  could  not 
well  understand  my  doing  so,  as  the  white  men  to  whom  they 
are  accustomed  generally  advocate  in  such  cases  leaving  the 
poor  wretches  to  perish  by  the  roadside.  Reached  the  ill-famed 
camping  place  of  '  Olohosi  '  in  the  afternoon.  The  name  means 
'  The  Lions.'  There  are  many  stories  about  natives  camping 
here  and  being  seized  while  asleep  and  carried  off  by  lions.  An 
extra  barricade  was  built  round  the  camp  with  great  pains. 
A  house  had  to  be  made  for  my  ox,  and  every  precaution  was 
taken  by  my  credulous  crew,  so  that  the  lions  had  little  pros- 
pect of  supping  at  our  expense  that  night,  though  many  of 
the  more  '  daring  '  of  our  number  thought  they  heard  the 
monsters  roaring  at  a  distance  during  the  night.  I  think  that 
they  have  long  since  taken  their  departure  from  Olohosi,  as, 
judging  from  the  number  of  barricades,  other  passing  travellers 
seem  to  have  been  as  much  on  their  guard  against  affording 
the  lions  a  meal  as  we  were. 

"  Jan.  20th. — My  men  were  longer  getting  astir  this  morning 
than  usual.  We  generally  start  about  the  time  of  the  '  cooing  of 
the  pigeons,'  but  we  did  not  this  morning  until  '  the  dew  was 
dry.'  Crossed  the  Lokoshe  River,  about  20  j^ards  wde  here. 
It  flows  into  the  Luburi,  which  empties  itself  into  the  Lualaba, 
so  that  I  am  now  within  the  lines  of  the  Congo  Free  State,  and 
am  doubtless  the  first  white  man  to  cross  its  southern  frontier. 

"  Jan.  21st. — We  have  now  been  12  days  in  this  hungry 
country.  The  few  beans  we  were  able  to  bring  from  Sacindonga 
did  not  last  long,  and  our  sacks  of  cassava  meal,  bought  at 
Nana  Kandundu,  are  almost  finished.     I  had  hoped  to  have 


IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE  177 

shot  some  game,  but  nothing  is  to  be  seen,  not  even  the  spoor 
of  any.  We  were  therefore  forced  to  press  on  without  losing 
any  time.  The  bodies  of  two  natives  by  the  roadside,  who  had 
evidently  died  of  hunger,  certainly  did  not  encourage  us, 
though  it  was  a  warning  for  my  men  to  take  longer  marches. 

"  Jan.  22nd. — Crossed  the  Luburi  this  morning — a  heavy 
stream,  35  feet  wide — upon  a  fairly  good  bridge.  Camped  at 
Kapa.  Our  food  being  now  used  up,  all  the  carriers  started 
off,  as  soon  as  we  got  into  camp,  for  some  Samba  villages 
reported  to  be  further  down  the  Luburi. 

"  Jan.  23rd. — Men  returned  with  only  a  few  cassava  roots. 
We  crossed  the  Lufupa  River  about  midday,  and  camped  at 
dusk.  We  had  scarcely  made  a  shelter  for  the  goods  when  the 
rain  came  down  in  sheets.  The  night  was  pitch  dark  ;  there 
was  nothing  but  forest  all  round  ;  everyone  was  tired  out,  and 
we  had  no  shelter.  We  managed,  however,  to  go  to  sleep, 
and  to  forget  our  hunger  and  destitution. 

"  Just  as  I  was  dropping  off,  I  heard  a  prolonged  ominous 
rustle  among  the  dank  grass  and  leaves  that  made  my  litter. 
I  suspected  that  a  snake,  roused  by  the  warmth  of  my  body, 
was  drawing  closer.  As  soon  as  I  awoke  in  the  morning,  I 
remembered  my  bedmate,  and  with  one  spring,  cleared  both 
bed  and  bedding.  Then  -with  the  help  of  my  boys  I  fished  my 
rugs  away,  and  after  beating  around  with  long  sticks,  out 
wriggled  a  deadly  black  mamba,  some  six  feet  long,  which  we 
quickly  despatched. 

"  Jan.  24!th. — Men  all  gone  off  in  search  of  Samba  villages. 
I  started  on  ahead  with  one  to  look  for  game,  following  a  long 
while  on  the  track  of  a  zebra,  encouraged  by  its  fresh  foot- 
prints ;  but  as  they  led  across  a  marsh  I  gave  up,  and  went 
towards  our  next  camping  place.  When  crossing  a  small  flat 
I  saw  four  pigs  in  the  distance.  Creeping  up  on  all  fours  I 
managed  to  get  within  120  yards  of  them,  when  they  saw  me 
and  prepared  to  clear  off.  As  one  young  hog  turned  to  take 
another  look  at  me,  I  took  aim  and  fired.  The  lead  entered  his 
breast  and  traversed  the  whole  body.  The  old  hog  turned 
back  in  a  great  rage  to  look  after  his  fellow,  when  another 
bullet  from  my  gun  pierced  his  two  shoulders,  and  he  lay  down 
with  his  head  resting  on  the  other.  They  were  both  of  the 
wart-hog  species  ;  the  old  one,  a  splendid  animal  weighing 
over  200  lb.,  and  having  tusks  a  foot  in  length.    Thus  the  Lord 


178  IN  NEED   OF  PATIENCE 

delivered  me  and  my  men  from  sinking  from  sheer  hunger  ; 
for  we  had  nothing  to  eat.  When  my  men  came  along  I  had 
the  greatest  difficulty  in  keeping  them  off  the  meat ;  some 
were  tearing  it  and  eating  it  raw  like  wolv^es. 

"  The  country  here  is  very  beautiful,  the  forest  not  so 
dense,  and  the  hills  high  and  richly  clad  to  the  tops.  Though 
this  is  the  hottest  time  of  the  year  the  nights  are  quite  cold. 
I  never  sleep  without  a  fire  in  my  hut,  though  I  have  blankets 
enough.  During  the  day  a  cool  breeze  is  always  blowing.  I 
presume  the  altitude  is  considerable. 

"  Jan.  25th. — Marched  but  a  short  way.  I  shall  not  soon 
forget  the  hearty  expressions  the  men  threw  out  one  to  the 
other  as  they  marched  along  in  Indian  file  this  morning.  '  Don't 
you  remember  what  things  we  said  of  the  white  man  and  his 
God  ?  What  names  we  called  them  !  But  the  white  man's 
God  has  not  only  been  with  us,  but  has  filled  our  bellies  with 
pig  meat.'  And  so  their  eyes  were  not  closed  ;  they  were 
willing  to  acknowledge  that  God  had  fed  them.  Kasoma's 
wife  is  taken  seriously  ill.  How  she  is  to  be  got  along  I  know 
not. 

"  Jan.  26th. — ^Made  another  short  march  to  the  Muilo 
copper  mines.  Some  of  the  men  have  gone  back  to  carry 
Kasoma's  wife  in  a  hammock. 

"  Jan.  21th. — Remained  in  camp.  Men  gone  off  in  search 
of  food. 

"  Jan.  28th. — Started  this  morning  early  with  two  of  my 
men  to  look  for  game  ;  had  gone  but  a  short  way  when  I  saw 
that,  up  a  valley,  some  animals  were  moving  about  in  the  long 
grass.  Taking  a  round  through  the  bush  with  one  of  my  men 
I  got  up,  by  dint  of  careful  stalking,  close  to  the  animals,  when, 
to  my  surprise,  I  found  myself  in  front  of  five  full-grown 
leopards.  I  refrained  from  shooting,  as  their  flesh  could  not 
have  been  of  use,  and  I  have  no  licence  to  fight  with  wild 
animals.  Four  of  the  leopards  cantered  off  at  first  sight  of  me  ; 
the  old  one  remained,  and  seemed  as  if  he  would  attack  me, 
swinging  his  tail  about  and  crouching.  I  kept  my  ground 
calmly,  about  20  yards  from  him,  with  my  rifle  cocked.  As 
soon,  however,  as  he  saw  his  four  relatives  off  at  a  safe  distance, 
he  trotted  slowly  after  them,  then  broke  into  a  canter.  Got 
into  camp,  late  and  tired.  Kasoma's  \vife  is  riding  on  my  ox 
to-day  ;  it  is  the  ambulance  animal  of  the  company." 


CHAPTER   XIII 

IN    GARENGANZE 

"  TAN.  29th,  1886 — Crossing  a  hill  this  morning  we  came  in 

/  full  sight  of  the  valley  of  the  Lualaba — a  beautiful  view 
•^  indeed.  An  hour's  journey  along  the  bank  of  the  river 
brought  us  to  the  ferry.  We  were  all  taken  over  without 
delay,  and  at  length  I  set  foot  on  Garenganze  soil.  Mangala, 
the  chief  of  the  ferry,  received  me  well,  cooking  some  food  for 
me,  and  showing  real  hospitality.  The  appearance  of  this 
man,  and  of  his  village,  favourably  impress  me  in  view  of  my 
future  stay  in  this  country. 

"  Jan.  SOth. — Rested  to-day.  A  hunter  brought  in  the  meat 
of  a  buffalo,  so  we  have  food  enough.  A  relative  of  Msidi  sent 
a  large  basket  of  beans,  and  having  also  bought  some  onions,  I 
managed  with  the  help  of  Dick  to  prepare  quite  a  sumptuous 
feast. 

"  This  afternoon  we  were  saddened  by  the  death  of  Kasoma's 
wife.  News  has  also  come  in  of  the  killing  of  Kazembe,  of  Lake 
Mweru,  a  chief  who  has  long  been  a  sworn  enemy  of  Msidi,  and 
who  till  lately  was  wandering  at  large  with  a  few  followers,  and 
hunted  by  the  Garenganze. 

"  Kasoma's  wife  was  buried.  My  men  went  through  the 
usual  ceremony  of  questioning  the  corpse  as  to  the  cause  of 
death.  The  answer  was  that  a  female  slave,  long  since  dead,  had 
come  to  take  her,  because  at  the  slave's  death  no  drums  were 
beaten.  This  reply  was  made  out  from  the  varied  jerkings  of 
the  pole  to  which  the  corpse  was  tied,  and  which  was  borne  on 
the  shoulders  of  two  men. 

"  Feb.  2nd,  1886. — Reached  Moelo's  town.  All  were  delighted 
when  we  came  to  fields  of  corn  and  abundance  of  food  ;  a 
very  pleasant  sight  after  so  many  days  of  hunger  while  passing 
through  a  deserted  country. 

"  Feb.  3rd. — Remained  in  camp  ;  my  men  eating  to  their 

179 


180  IN  GARENGANZE 

hearts'  content.  Moelo  sent  me  three  baskets  of  corn  and  half 
a  wild  hog. 

"  Feb.  Uh. — Marched  to-day  through  beautifully  hilly 
country.  Camped  in  a  hollow  surrounded  by  steep  hills,  within 
two  hours'  march  of  Molenga's  old  town.  I  had  sent  a  man  on 
ahead  yesterday  to  advise  Molenga  of  my  coming,  as  is  the 
custom.  To  my  surprise  I  had  not  been  in  camp  more  than  ten 
minutes  when  people  came  to  meet  me,  carrying  loads  of  food  : 
maize  corn,  pumpkins,  fresh  beans,  all  cooked,  and  a  load  of 
corn  besides. 

"  Feb.  5th. — Arrived  at  Molenga's  old  town  ;  he  has  built 
another,  an  hour's  journey  further  on.  He  sent  a  headman  to 
greet  me,  and  in  the  evening  his  three  drummers  came  to  escort 
us  on  our  visit  to  him  on  the  morrow.  Molenga  is  the  second 
man  in  the  Garenganze  kingdom,  captain  of  the  forces,  etc. 

"  Feb.  6th. — Scarcely  had  we  reached  Molenga's  this  morning 
and  built  our  camp  when  the  chief's  present  arrived  :  a  tooth  of 
ivory  (about  30  lb.),  a  good  fat  goat,  and  29  loads  of  corn — 
enough  to  disconcert  me  ;  for  I  had  only  given  him  as  yet  eight 
yards  of  calico.  My  first  thought  was  to  return  the  ivory,  but 
all  protested  loudly  against  my  doing  so,  saying  I  could  not 
offer  Molenga  a  greater  insult.  I  went  to  greet  the  chief  with 
nothing  in  my  hand,  and  was  welcomed  most  warmly.  He  rose 
and  gave  me  his  seat,  saying  again  and  again  how  glad  he 
was  to  see  me  and  how  welcome  I  was  to  the  Garenganze 
country. 

"  Feb.  7th. — Sent  Molenga  this  morning  a  present  of  a  small 
keg  of  powder,  some  cloth  and  a  blanket,  nothing  hke  the  value 
of  the  ivory  and  food  he  gave  me.  Still  he  seems  to  be  quite 
satisfied,  saying  it  is  I,  and  not  my  goods,  that  they  welcome. 

"  Feb.  Sth. — Upon  going  up  to  the  chief's  house  this  morning 
I  was  surprised  to  find  none  but  women  about  the  place.  The 
natural  conclusion  was  that  the  men  were  all  away  hunting  ; 
but  no,  they  were  all  off  in  the  fields  with  Molenga.  Taking 
the  paths  to  the  fields  I  found  Molenga  in  the  midst  of  a  con- 
siderable clearing,  directing  25  stalwart  men,  with  long-handled 
hoes,  which  they  were  using  in  fine  style,  hoeing  to  the  beat  of 
a  drum.  It  was  what  might  be  called  a  healthy  sight.  I  sat 
down  and  talked  awhile  with  the  chief.  In  a  short  time  women 
came  with  baskets  of  roasted  corn  for  the  hoers'  breakfast.  They 
tell  me  that  it  is  the  regular  custom  in  this  country  for  the  men 


IN  GARENGANZE  181 

to  do  all  the  heavy  work  of  tilling,  and  the  women  to  do  the 
after  work  of  clearing,  etc.,  with  light,  short-handled  hoes. 

"  Feb.  9th. — Marched  again  this  morning,  and  camped  at 
Kalasa's  to^vn,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Lukuruwe  River.  Some 
messengers  came  into  camp,  sent  by  Msidi  to  overtake  a  com- 
pany of  his  men,  bound  for  Bihe,  whom  we  met  yesterday.  It 
seems  that  one  of  the  company,  while  stealing  food  in  a  field, 
killed  a  man  who  was  attempting  to  defend  his  corn.  On 
hearing  of  this  Msidi  sent  to  stop  the  men  ;  not  so  much  that 
the  murderer  might  be  punished  as  that  certain  rites  might 
be  performed  to  remove  the  stain  of  innocent  blood.  Other- 
wise some  disaster  might  have  befallen  the  party. 

"  Feb.  lOth. —  A  toilsome  m.arch  through  beautiful  hills.  To 
the  south  lay  the  Sombwe  Hill  and  others  beyond,  in  which  are 
the  inhabited  caves  which  Livingstone  was  on  his  way  to  visit 
when  death  overtook  him  on  the  south  of  Lake  Bangweolo. 

"  Feb.  nth. — A  long  tramp  over  very  rough  mountain 
country  brought  us  to  Uleya,  only  one  day's  journey  from 
our  destination. 

"  Feb.  12th. — Remain  here  and  send  on  Kasoma  with  letter 
to  Msidi  and  24  yards  of  cloth.  And  now  as  I  draw  near  to  the 
capital  of  the  great  chief,  and  hear  from  the  villages  along  the 
route  of  the  extra  tall,  well-sharpened  stake  that  Msidi  has  in 
the  middle  of  his  courtyard  on  which  to  place  the  head  of  the 
first  white  man  who  comes  into  the  country  to  spy  out  his  store- 
houses of  ivory  and  mountains  of  copper,  I  confess  to  many 
anxious  days  and  nights  of  prayer. 

"  Feb.  I3th. — Marched  to  Kungofo.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
journey  the  road  lay  through  wxll-tillcd  gardens  for  three  miles. 
A  frightful  storm  came  down  shortly  after  we  had  camped  and 
threatened  to  swamp  everything.  The  cooking  business  was 
paralysed ;  we  had  to  go  to  bed  with  what  supper  could  other- 
wise be  provided.  My  man,  Kasoma,  returned  from  Msidi  with 
a  small  tooth  of  very  white  ivory  to  indicate  how  white  the  king's 
heart  was  towards  me,  and  with  many  messages  of  satisfaction. 

"  Feb.  I'ith. — A  short  journey  brought  us  close  to  the  capital. 
I  was  sho^vn  a  hill  close  by  where  I  might  build.  On  getting  to 
the  spot  it  pleased  me  every  way.  It  was  in  the  midst  of 
villages,  on  high  ground,  commanding  a  view  of  the  whole 
country,  but  not  difficult  of  approach.  I  named  it  Mount 
Rehoboth. 


182  IN   GARENG4NZE 

"  Feb.  15th. — Late  this  evening  the  chief's  messenger,  who 
had  come  in  the  morning  with  promises  of  food,  came  to  say 
that  the  food  the  chief  had  sent  for  had  not  j^et  come  so  in  place 
he  sent  me  a  small  tooth  of  ivory,  to  keep  my  heart  up. 

"  I  expected  to  have  had  an  early  interview  Math  the  king, 
but  discovered  that  it  was  not  the  custom  to  receive  entire 
strangers  at  once,  so  I  was  placed  in  a  sort  of  quarantine. 
During  this  time  they  were  deciding,  to  their  own  wisdom  and 
skill,  whether  my  intentions  in  coming  to  the  country  were  good 
or  bad,  and  whether  my  heart  was  as  white  as  my  skin.  Diviners 
and  doctors  from  far  and  near  were  employed  for  this  purpose. 

"  Some  of  their  tests  were  certainly  rather  childish,  though 
they  had  a  grim  humour  about  them.  One  was  the  placing  of 
a  little  piece  of  bark  at  night  in  a  certain  decoction  of  some 
carefully  compounded  native  medicines.  Next  morning,  if  this 
piece  of  bark  appeared  quite  sound,  it  would  show  that  my 
heart  was  sound,  and  that  I  had  come  to  the  Garenganze 
country  without  evil  intentions.  If,  however,  this  little 
fragment  of  bark  turned  out  to  be  unsound,  or  in  any  way 
decomposed,  it  would  have  proved  that  my  heart  was  rotten, 
and  that  I  was  not  to  be  trusted. 

"  Another  test  was  on  this  wise  :  They  cut  off  the  head  of  a 
live  fowl,  which  was  then  thrown  into  the  middle  of  the  yard, 
and  the  diviner,  watching  its  dying  struggles,  judged  as  to  my 
designs  from  the  position  in  which  it  lay  when  dead.  If  the 
neck  had  pointed  in  the  direction  of  my  camp,  danger  from  that 
quarter  would  have  been  indicated  ;  but,  if  not,  then  I  and  my 
companions  were  clear.  All  things  turned  out  in  my  favour. 
They  had  nothing  against  me,  and  so  were  willing  to  obey  their 
king's  command  and  unite  in  giving  me  a  hearty  welcome  to 
their  country. 

"  Feb.  IGth. — A  large  basket  of  rice  and  a  goat  to-day.  In 
the  evening  corn  and  beer  for  the  men  in  abundance,  and  a 
message  for  all  of  us  to  come  to  the  chief  to-morrow,  and  to 
come  in  style,  as  he  was  going  to  give  a  grand  reception.  We 
must  fire  off  volleys,  etc. 

"  Feb.  11th. — Went  with  my  eight  men,  this  morning,  all 
dressed  in  our  finest,  I  on  my  ox,  to  the  chief's  town.  The  town 
has  not  much  of  an  appearance  as  the  chief  has  newly  come  to 
this  part.  Mukurru  can  scarcely  be  called  a  town  or  village,  but 
an  immense  inhabited  place  bordering  on  a  range  of  hills,  the 


IN   GARENGANZE  183 

houses  of  the  chief's  wives  forming  centres  all  over.  He  is  said 
to  have  five  hundred. 

"  We  reached  the  yard  where  Msidi  was  awaiting  me.  I 
found  him  an  old-looking  man,  with  rather  a  pleasant,  smooth 
face,  and  a  short  beard,  quite  white.  As  I  approached  he  rose 
from  his  chair  and  came  forward  to  meet  me,  folding  his  arms 
round  me  in  a  most  fatherly  way  ;  indeed  his  reception  was 
quite  affecting.  Behind  and  on  either  side  of  him  were  large 
companies  of  women  ;  these  he  introduced  to  me  as  his  wives. 
After  the  ceremony  of  shaking  hands  with  wives,  brothers, 
cousins  and  other  relatives  was  over,  he  sent  for  the  nurse  of 
one  of  his  children,  who  brought  a  child  about  18  months  old. 
This  little  boy  was  placed  by  Msidi  upon  my  knee  before  all  the 
company  as  his  present,  and  he  assured  me  that  he  was  my 
child  henceforth.    Yota  is  the  child's  name. 

"  Feb.  \^th. — Had  a  visit  from  two  sons  of  the  chief.  Kalasa, 
the  eldest,  is  a  fine-looking  fellow.  They  conducted  themselves 
very  mannerly.  Indeed,  all  the  chief's  family  and  people  are 
wonderfully  well  behaved  for  Africans.  Immorality  is,  of 
course,  very  great ;  but  respectful,  courteous  behaviour 
towards  one  another  is  insisted  upon  by  the  king.  He  opposes 
all  hashish  smoking,  and  is  not  favourable  to  the  use  of  tobacco 
in  any  form.  He  insists  upon  his  sons  acquiring  a  knowledge 
of  useful  employments.  Kalasa  is  quite  a  skilful  worker  in 
horn,  making,  out  of  the  horns  of  large  animals,  powder 
flasks,  neatly  mounted  with  copper  and  brass.  Another  of 
Msidi's  sons  is  a  proficient  blacksmith.  Their  livelihood 
does  not  depend  upon  these  trades,  but  they  are  followed  as 
accomplishments. 

"  Feb.  19th. — Had  a  long  interview  with  the  king,  who  asked 
many  questions  about  the  Barotse.  He  told  me  that  my  old 
friend,  Liwanika,  had  come  up  close  to  his  country  and  intended 
coming  on  to  the  Garenganze. 

"  March  1st,  1886. — Each  day  brings  something  with  it  to 
do.  I  have  had  several  interviews  with  the  chief  and  am  getting 
on  well  with  him.  He  is  very  kind  in  his  way.  Indeed  he  is  a 
strange  mixture.  He  is  fierce  and  cruel  as  a  soldier  and  in  his 
ambition  for  power  and  gain,  but  kind  and  generous  as  a  father 
over  his  people.  Hearing  him  talk  of  his  wars,  and  seeing  all 
round  his  yard  human  skulls,  brought  in  baskets  as  a  proof  of 
his  soldiers'  valour,  the  sensation  creeps  over  one  of  being  in  a 


184  IN   GARENGANZE 

monster's  den,  but  this  is  immediately  expelled  when  trays  of 
food  are  brought  in,  and  the  old  chief  comes  doAVTi  from  his 
stool  and  himself  deals  out  food  for  his  people,  giving  special 
attention  to  a  group  of  aged  and  decrepit,  a  leper  and  a  silly 
woman,  and  then  mixing  up  in  a  separate  dish  some  porridge 
and  broth  for  my  dog,  which  is  standing  by.  He  has  the  name 
of  being  very  kind  among  his  people,  but  at  the  same  time  very 
strict.  He  does  not  stop  at  taking  their  heads  off.  One  young 
man  who  returned  with  me  to  his  own  country,  instead  of  going 
on  to  Benguella  with  his  companions,  saved  his  head  by  starting 
at  once  for  Loanda  with  a  company  bound  for  that  place. 

"  During  one  of  my  first  interviews  with  the  king  I  was  intro- 
duced to  several  traders,  of  Arab  descent,  from  Zanzibar.  The 
Arabs  have  been  long  in  communication  with  the  Garenganze 
country,  which  is  know^l  to  them  as  Katanga,  famous  all  over 
Eastern  Africa  for  its  copper  and  salt.  Arab  caravans  come 
from  Lake  Tanganyika  in  the  north  for  copper  to  supply  the 
markets  of  Uganda.  I  found  that  these  Arabs  made  good  use 
of  their  time  at  Katanga  in  promulgating  infamous  stories  about 
the  English.  They  were,  I  was  told,  most  assiduous  in  their 
efforts  to  poison  the  mind  of  Msidi  against  me  in  particular, 
when  they  heard  of  my  coming.  After  listening  to  a  long 
harangue  from  them,  however,  he  quickly  replied :  '  I  am  sure 
I  cannot  answer  your  words.  I  do  not  know  these  English 
people.  I  certainly  do  not  know  this  man  who  is  now  coming  ; 
but  one  thing  I  know — /  knozv  you  Arabs.''  So  he  was  prepared 
to  suspend  judgment  concerning  me  from  his  knowledge  of  the 
men  who  were  seeking  to  prejudice  him  against  me. 

"  A  few  sick  folk  have  been  coming  to  my  camp.  But  on  the 
whole  my  camp  is  exceptionally  quiet  and  free  from  visiting, 
owing  no  doubt  to  the  fact  that  I  have  been  giving  no  presents. 
Food  is  not  very  plentiful,  but  sufficient.  Have  got  two  milking 
goats.  From  these  I  get  about  a  cupful  of  very  refreshing  milk 
which  helps  over  my  breakfast  of  rice  and  maize  porridge. 

"  I  have  been  able  by  degrees  to  make  known  to  the  king  my 
object  in  coming  to  his  country.  He  had  heard  of  Livingstone's 
approach  from  the  east,  and  of  his  death  at  Ilala,  and  was  much 
interested  when  I  told  him  that  I  was  a  man  of  peace  like 
Livingstone,  and  hailed  from  the  same  country  and  towTi.  I 
also  told  him  that  I  was  willing  to  remain  among  his  people, 
and  to  send  back  Cinyana,  with  the  few  men  who  had  come  with 


IN   GARENGANZE  185 

me,  to  Bihe,  to  bring  on  others  who  might  think  of  joining  me 
in  this  country. 

"  It  was  difficult,  of  course,  in  a  few  interviews  fully  to 
disclose  to  a  mind  so  dark  my  true  object  in  coming  to  the 
country.  And  I  sought  for  special  %\dsdom  to  explain  to  him 
the  nature  of  my  message,  waiting  for  a  suitable  opportunity 
to  present  itself.  I  feared  that  were  I  to  keep  back  from  his 
ears  the  more  bitter  and  pungent  things  in  connection  with  the 
story  of  man's  ruin  and  God's  love  until  afterwards,  he  would 
conclude  that  I  had  knowingly  deceived  him.  One  day  he 
asked  me  to  breakfast  at  his  house,  and  our  conversation  went 
on,  as  at  other  times,  respecting  the  nature  and  reality  of  God's 
existence.  I  then  spoke  to  him  in  words  like  these  :  '  Great 
and  mighty  chief  as  you  are  in  the  eyes  of  men,  in  the  sight  of 
God  there  is  no  difference  between  you  and  the  poorest,  vilest 
slave  in  your  country,  and  you  need  God's  mercy  just  as  he 
does.'  My  words  impressed  him,  and  I  was  uncertain  for  a  few 
moments  as  to  the  result.  At  last,  with  an  effort,  he  leaned 
forward  thoughtfully,  and  said :  '  It  must  be  so,  if  God  is  as 
great  as  you  say  ;  and  if  He  is  so  high  above  us  all,  then  we 
must  be  all  the  same  in  His  sight.'  Instead  of  alienating  me 
from  him,  we  were,  through  this  plain  speaking,  drawn  closer 
together,  and  our  conversations  became  more  frequent  and 
interesting. 

"  March  3rd. — Went  to  visit  the  chief  this  morning.  He  took 
me  to  see  some  of  his  towns.  On  the  way  we  passed  a  house,  in 
the  course  of  construction,  which  had  no  less  than  15  compart- 
ments, all  on  the  ground  floor,  and  all  covered  by  one  immense 
roof,  a  tremendous  undertaking  for  natives.  We  went  on  to 
the  town  of  his  chief  wife,  who  lives  in  a  two-storied  house  with 
an  inside  staircase.  She,  however,  was  sick  and  unable  to 
entertain  us,  so  we  went  to  the  house  of  another  wife,  who  had 
also  a  good  square  house  with  four  compartments.  She  at 
once  set  her  servants  to  work  to  prepare  food  for  us.  A  goat 
was  killed,  and  rice  was  dealt  out  to  be  ground  for  bread. 
True  primitive  hospitality,  but  quite  unsuited  to  the  patience 
of  '  civilised  '  folk,  for  before  the  animal  was  skinned,  cut  up 
and  cooked,  the  sun  was  getting  low.  It  was  pitch  dark  when 
I  reached  camp  in  the  evening. 

"  The  chief,  as  usual,  had  much  to  say.  At  one  time  he 
called  me  aside  to  tell  me  that  he  had  a  gold  mine  in  his  country, 


186  IN  GARENGANZE 

and  that  he  wanted  me  to  inspect  it  for  him.  I  told  him  that 
if  he  had  a  mine  of  gold  he  had  better  keep  it  to  himself  and 
show  it  to  no  one,  as  we  whites  were  not  people  when  we  smelt 
gold,  that  if  he  showed  the  mine  to  white  people  they  would 
come  in  and  take  it  by  force.  At  this  he  said  he  would  show  it 
to  me  if  I  promised  not  to  tell  my  friends.  I  assured  him  it 
would  not  be  safe  for  him  even  to  do  that  as  my  friends  would 
be  sure  to  ask  me  and  I  could  not  tell  them  a  lie. 

"  March  7th. — The  chief  held  a  grand  reception  to-day  to 
receive  a  company  of  Bachikumbi  who  have  come  from  Lake 
Bangweolo  with  a  present.  Msidi  turned  out  in  a  litter  carried 
by  about  20  men,  and  with  his  immense  head-dress  of  red 
parrot  feathers,  and  flaming  coloured  clothes  hanging  all  round 
him,  he  made  an  imposing  appearance. 

"  March  12th. — Called  on  the  chief  again  to-day  and  found 
I  had  been  successful  in  curing  a  favourite  wife  who  had  been 
sick.  The  chief  sent  a  hunter  off  to  kill  and  bring  in  the  flesh 
of  a  buffalo  as  my  pay.  A  leprous  woman  has  also  been  greatly 
relieved  by  me  with  crystal  caustic.  The  chief  is  quite  taken 
up  about  my  house  and  wants  to  build  me  a  big  one  with  six 
compartments. 

"  March  13th. — Called  out  in  haste  this  evening  to  see 
another  sick  wife  some  two  miles  off. 

"  March  IMh. — Received  this  morning  a  basket  of  rice  and 
a  goat  as  fees  for  medicine.  Was  pleased  with  the  intelligent 
way  some  of  my  men  connected  what  I  said  to  them  on 
former  occasions  with  verses  which  I  read  to  them  to-day 
in  Luke  xv. 

"  March  29th. — Returned  from  a  trip  to  the  Lufira  River  ; 
passed  through  the  many  villages  of  the  place  forming  Msidi's 
Mukurru.  I  had  quite  a  '  progress,'  the  people  everywhere  glad 
to  see  me.  The  Lufira  flows  through  a  great  grassy  plain,  more 
or  less  flooded  during  the  rainy  season,  but  dry  in  the  summer 
and  abounding  Avith  large  herds  of  game.  On  the  east  side  of 
the  river  there  is  a  majestic  range  of  mountains,  rising  abruptly 
from  the  plain  to  a  height  of  about  3,000  feet.  There  are  many 
villages  along  the  Lufira,  small  and  poorly  built,  and  occupied 
chiefly  by  Lamba  fishermen.  I  shot  six  animals  for  my  men  and 
returned  with  some  meat  for  my  own  supplies.  The  amount  of 
wild  geese  and  golden  crested  cranes,  and  other  water  fowl 
quite  astonished  me.     Like  Nchemiah,  however,   I  had  the 


IN   GARENGANZE  187 

secret  of  my  work  in  my  heart,  and  unable  to  tell  it,  but  I 
viewed  a  part  of  the  wall. 

^^ April  5th,  1886. — Began  clearing  the  ground  for  my  cottage. 
Though  IMsidi  promises  me  every  help  from  his  people,  they 
are  not  so  accustomed  to  build  as  the  Ovimbundu.  While  some 
of  the  men  who  have  come  wdth  me  return  to  Nana  Kandundu, 
with  extra  porters  provided  by  Msidi,  others  will  remain  here 
to  help  in  building.  After  measuring  out  a  piece  of  ground, 
80  ft.  by  15  ft.,  I  began  to  dig  a  deep  trench  for  the  foundation. 
The  lads  found  nothing  but  rock  under  the  surface,  so  that  it 
was  laborious  work  picking  and  digging  a  trench  deep  enough 
to  well  embed  the  poles,  which  were  to  form  the  walls  of  the 
house.  Whilst  a  few  of  us  busied  ourselues  in  digging  out 
this  trench  others  went  to  the  bush  to  cut  the  poles,  and  for 
each  one  brought  in  I  paid  them  20  beads. 

"  April  22nd. — Alarming  news  reached  me  to-day  about  the 
little  company  I  sent  off  to  Nana  Kandundu.  One  of  their 
number  came  running  into  camp  in  a  great  state  of  excitement, 
saying  he  had  travelled  from  the  Lualaba  River  in  four  days, 
and  that  the  lives  of  my  Bihe  men  were  in  danger.  News  had 
also  come  that  three  Garenganze  caravans  had  been  plundered 
and  many  men  killed,  one  at  Bihe,  another  in  the  Lovale 
country,  and  the  third  in  the  Lunda  country,  but  all  at  the 
instigation  of  Bihe  chiefs  and  traders,  who  thought  that  they 
had  been  unjustly  dealt  with  in  certain  transactions  they  had 
with  Msidi.  I  went  down  to  confer  on  the  matter  w^ith  the 
king,  but  he  had  little  to  say,  so  there  is  not  much  prospect  of 
getting  the  few  loads  I  left  at  Nana  Kandundu  brought  on  at 
present. 

"  April  26th. — Two  of  the  men  I  had  sent  to  Nana  Kandundu 
returned  to-day  ;  the  rest  have  crossed  the  Lualaba  and  have 
gone  on  to  Bihe.  The  chief  proposes  that  I  start  back  at  once 
to  Nana  Kandundu  for  the  things  I  left  there,  sending  my  men 
on  to  Bihe.  It  appears  that  the  news  that  came  here  was 
brought  by  a  runaway  who  belonged  to  the  caravan  of  Garen- 
ganze sacked  at  Bihe.  This  man  was  disposed  with  the  rest 
as  slaves.  All  excepting  the  two  sons  of  Msidi  and  the  leader 
of  the  expedition  were  sold.  The  latter  is  said  to  have  com- 
mitted suicide.  If  this  be  true,  it  is  the  first  case  I  have  heard 
of  by  a  native  African.  Kovingevinge,  the  leader  of  the 
caravan  sacked  in  the  Lunda  country,  met,  on  his  return, 


188  IN   GARENGANZE 

a  small  company  of  Bihe  traders,  and  is  reported  to  have 
murdered  them  all.  This  will  only  increase  the  trouble  between 
the  two  countries. 

"  May  Uh,  1886. — The  chief  has  held  a  general  council,  and 
the  general  decision,  as  to  the  Bihe  question,  is  that  the  road 
must  not  be  closed  and  that  Msidi  should  send  one  of  his  sons 
with  a  large  caravan  to  settle  this  matter. 

"  May  6ih. — Have  been  asked  to  go  and  visit  a  sick  man 
two  days'  journey  from  here. 

"  May  8th. — Was  well  received  by  Kagoma,  the  sick  man 
I  was  called  to  see.  I  found  him  suffering  from  a  sort  of 
leprous  sores  which  had  afflicted  him  for  eight  years.  Five 
witches  had  been  killed  meanwhile  but  without  any  effect  on 
his  sores.    I  began  at  once  to  treat  him  with  silver  caustic. 

"  May  15th. — Started  for  my  camp  this  morning.  Kagoma, 
of  course,  is  not  cured,  but  greatly  relieved.  Nearly  all  his 
sores  have  dried  up  under  the  caustic  treatment,  though  they 
may  break  out  again.  I  left  him  some  of  the  medicine.  He 
loaded  me  up  with  corn  and  rice,  and  seeing  I  had  already 
'  eaten  '  a  goat  in  his  village,  and  have  had  abundance  of  food 
daily,  I  am,  according  to  native  ideas,  paid  well.  They  cannot 
understand  what  it  costs  me  to  travel  those  hard,  dry,  hot 
roads.  They  doubtless  see  nothing  in  me  of  the  disinterested- 
ness of  my  Master. 

"  May  17th. — Called  on  the  chief.  Found  him  head  over 
ears  in  arranging  a  large  caravan  for  Nana  Kandundu,  there 
to  intercept  Bihe  traders  with  his  ivory.  He  said  he  was  just 
waiting  my  return  to  ask  me  to  take  charge  of  this  company, 
and  to  arrange  for  him  with  the  chief  there  a  site  where  his 
people  might  build  a  market  and  remain  there  trading.  Should 
Nana  Kandundu  be  occupied  in  this  friendly  way  by  Msidi  it 
will  mean  regular  communications  between  there  and  here. 
It  will  also  greatly  help  my  labours  in  the  Garenganze  as  I 
shall  then  be  able  to  communicate  with  the  coast.  Indeed 
should  labourers  come  forward  I  should  hope  to  see  Nana 
Kandundu  occupied  as  a  station. 

"  May  23rd. — Have  been  in  bed  nearly  all  this  week  with 
fever.    Am  feeling  somewhat  better  this  morning. 

"  May  24//i. — Kagoma  has  sent  me  a  further  present  of 
rice  and  corn. 

"  June  5th,  1886. — All  last  month  I  was  feeding  on  corn 


IN  GARENGANZE  189 

mush  and  beans,  with  a  chicken  for  Sunday's  dinner,  and  am 
beginning  to  feel  what  the  natives  call  '  meat  hunger,'  so  have 
decided  to  start  off  to  the  country  again  to  look  for  meat. 

"  June  7th. — Made  an  early  start.  Reached  Kalolo,  the 
town  of  Monkobe.  The  people  here  had  evidently  not  seen  a 
white  man  before  for  they  seemed  very  uncertain  about  me, 
and  stood  a  long  way  off,  gazing  in  groups.  The  young  men 
who  were  with  me  spent  their  strength  in  vain  efforts  to  assure 
them  that  no  danger  was  to  be  anticipated  from  my  presence. 
A  large  hut  was  provided  for  me,  and  plenty  of  raw  food  laid 
down,  and  Monkobe  came  in  towards  evening.  He  seemed  to 
be  much  more  reasonable  than  the  others,  and  told  his  wife  to 
cook  me  food,  which  she  did  ;  and  to  their  astonishment  I 
partook  of  it.  Few  were  willing,  nevertheless,  to  sleep  in  their 
to\\'Ti  that  night.  It  was  enough  to  have  seen  my  footprint  on 
the  path.  '  His  feet  are  not  like  men's  feet ;  they  are  like  those 
of  the  zebra,'  they  said.  In  the  evening  I  kindled  a  large  fire 
in  front  of  my  hut,  knowing  something  of  the  attraction  this 
is  to  these  poor  naked  people,  and  after  sitting  some  time  I  saw 
it  had  an  effect.  A  little  group  gathered  on  the  other  side  of 
the  fire,  and  through  the  smoke  and  flames  I  with  difficulty 
distinguished  their  eyes  from  their  mouths,  as  all  were  wide 
open.  The  numbers  gradually  increased,  until  they  were  no 
longer  able  to  hide  themselves  behind  the  fire  ;  and  watching 
my  opportunity,  I  began  a  conversation  with  them  through 
a  young  man  I  had  with  me  as  interpreter,  but  a  sorry  helper 
he  was.  His  debauchery  became  so  abominable  that  I  had 
literally  to  drive  him  off. 

"  Ju7ie  15th. — Before  returning  to  my  camp  I  visited  a  few 
other  villages,  and  met  from  time  to  time  with  strange  recep- 
tions. One  man,  who  had  heard  the  night  before  of  the  coming 
of  this  '  son  of  the  great  spirit,'  appeared  with  a  pot  of  small 
beer,  hastily  prepared,  and  after  politely  requesting  us  to 
refresh  ourselves  with  his  gift,  told  me  that  some  of  his  children 
had  gone  along  the  road  upon  which  we  were  travelling  some 
days  before,  and  as  there  was  a  possibility  of  our  meeting  them 
as  they  returned,  he  hoped  I  would  not  capture  or  rob  them. 
He  remarked  aside,  to  one  of  my  men,  that  doubtless  I  had 
cloth  in  my  basket  to  buy  slaves  with  at  the  Lufira. 

"  At  Kaunga  Kasare  I  went  out  in  the  evening  and  shot  a 
wild  hog  and  a  zebra.    These  kept  us  all  next  day  cutting  up 


190  IN  GARENGANZE 

and  drying.  I  took  another  round  in  the  bush  the  day  after 
without  success.  On  the  day  following,  however,  I  encountered 
a  troop  of  hartebecste  and  shot  only  two  cows  as  these  are 
large  antelopes.  By  the  way,  I  also  shot  another  wild  hog. 
After  remaining  at  Kaunga  drying  the  meat,  I  started  for  my 
camp  with  three  good  loads,  a  month'<^  provision  at  least.  Slept 
twice  by  the  way.  On  reaching  camp  found  that  Msidi  had 
been  mindful  to  send  me  a  basket  of  meal  and  some  corn  in 
my  absence. 

"  June  27ih. — Have  just  got  out  of  bed  after  some  days  of 
bilious  fever.  The  chief  has  just  returned  from  the  town  of 
one  of  his  wives,  and  he  is  all  in  haste  to  get  his  caravans 
started  for  Nana  Kandundu  and  Bihe.  On  hearing  of  my  ill- 
ness he  sent  me  four  young  pigeons  with  the  message  that  I 
must  not  on  any  account  take  medicines  from  native  doctors  ; 
they  would  only  kill  me. 

"  June  80th. — Having  recovered  somewhat,  I  was  able  to  go 
out  in  my  hammock  to  visit  the  village  of  Chipenza,  a  few 
hours'  journey  north  of  my  camp.  Here  I  spent  a  couple  of 
days  and  suffered  severely  from  headaches.  During  a  long 
afternoon's  talk  in  the  yard  the  two  ways  of  Scripture  was  the 
subject  I  tried  to  make  plain  to  them.  I  pointed  out  the 
crookedness  of  their  ways — deception,  lying,  stealing,  murder- 
ing, etc.,  with  their  trust  in  idols  and  fetish  things  to  deliver 
them  from  the  penalty  of  their  deeds  ;  and  in  contrast  I  showed 
the  straightness  and  evenness  of  God's  ways.  At  the  end  of 
each  sentence  the  headman  turned  to  explain  all  I  had  said  to 
the  villagers.  One  bright-looking  young  man,  on  hearing  the 
description  of  God's  ways,  replied  with  much  animation,  '  A 
road  to  run  on  !  '  How  often  it  is  that  those  we  seek  to  teach, 
teach  us. 

"  July  7th,  1886. — The  recovery  mentioned  under  the  above 
date  was  of  short  duration,  my  sickness  returning  with  much 
pain  and  with  the  entire  loss  of  the  strength  of  my  limbs.  I 
am  able  to  sit  up  to-day,  but  cannot  move  out  of  my  hut  yet. 
Msidi  sent  me  a  kind  message  and  says  that  he  will  not  hear 
of  my  going  to  Nana  Kandundu,  that  I  must  remain  and  his 
men  will  bring  all  my  things  in  perfect  safety.  I  can  look  to 
him  for  that.  He  has  decided  to  send  a  wife  of  his,  who  is 
also  a  niece  of  the  chief  of  Bihe,  to  Bihe,  to  negotiate  on  his 
bel'.alf  about  the  opening  again  of  the  road  for  trade.    So  the 


IN   GARENGANZE  191 

Garenganze  porters  who  go  for  my  things  will  go  in  her  com- 
pany as  far  as  Nana  Kandundu  and  will  not  again  be  afraid  of 
the  Bihe  traders.  They  will  not  therefore  turn  baek  as  they  did 
the  last  time  they  set  not. 

"  I  \^Tote  home  as  folloAvs  :  '  The  fact  that  my  health  during 
this  dry  season  has  been  very  uncertain,  and  has  broken  down 
several  times,  must  not  give  you  the  impression  that  this 
country  is  unhealthy  ;  on  the  contrary,  I  consider  it  to  be  as 
healthy  as  any  part  of  Central  Africa  I  have  been  in.  There 
are  no  malarial  swamps  anywhere  near.  During  the  hot  rainy 
season  I  enjoyed  the  best  of  health,  and  that  is  considered  the 
most  unhealthy  period  for  Europeans,  but  my  constitution, 
already  impaired  from  my  stay  in  the  Barotse,  evidently  can- 
not stand  the  dry  and,  at  times,  cold  winds  of  this  season. 
I  do  not  think  that  a  new-comer,  \vith  healthy  blood  in  his 
veins,  will  be  at  all  affected  by  these  \vinds  ;  neither  do  I  think 
that  I  shall  suffer  so  much  when  my  house  is  finished  and 
plastered.    In  the  meantime  I  am  living  in  a  grass  hut. 

"  '  My  journal  up  to  this  point  will  at  least  serve  to  show 
that  the  country  is  open  and  the  people  accessible.  My  progress 
in  the  languages  has  been,  contrary  to  my  expectations,  slow 
and  difficult.  The  people  are  shy,  and  do  not  come  readily  to 
me,  but  I  am  ever  welcome  among  them  ;  in  the  meantime, 
however,  poor  health  prevents  me  from  visiting  them  as  often 
as  I  would  wish.  I  much  more  enjoy  visiting  among  the 
villages  than  in  the  capital,  which  is  almost  wholly  under  the 
sway  of  the  king's  wives,  who  are  given  to  vicious  and 
dissolute  habits.  Indeed,  I  am  compelled,  from  reasons  of 
propriety,  to  abstain  from  visiting  their  compounds,  even  when 
invited,  unless  accompanied  by  a  messenger  from  Msidi.' 

"  July  12th. — My  poverty,  I  may  say,  is  complete.  My 
bed  sheets  and  tablecloth,  in  fact  everything  saleable  has  gone 
for  food.  I  am  now  living  on  the  fag  end  of  a  garden  of  sweet 
potatoes  which  I  bought  some  months  ago,  on  a  basket  of  rice 
I  got  as  medical  fee,  and  on  a  bag  of  native  corn  one  of  the 
chief's  head  wives  gave  me  as  she  was  gathering  in  her  harvest. 
I  had  given  her  a  dress  when  I  came.  So  I  get  along.  The 
other  morning  I  was  lying  in  bed  distressing  myself  on  my 
scanty  fare,  having  no  sauce  to  sweeten  my  meal  or  my  rice, 
the  goats  having  dried  up  some  months  ago,  and  wondering 
when  I  was  to  get  any,  when,  to  my  surprise,  here  comes  a  leg 


192  IN  GARENGANZE 

of  beef  from  the  chief.  He  had  killed  one  of  his  six  or  eight 
small  oxen,  the  last  thing  one  would  have  dreamed  of  as  he 
thinks  everything  of  his  few  cattle.  This  bit  of  fresh  meat 
brought  me  round  wonderfully.  I  went  in  for  two  meals  a  day, 
and  lived  high  for  three  or  four  days.  I  am  down  again  to 
herbs,  however.  In  all  things  we  have  the  privilege  of  being 
thankful  to  God  and  content  with  the  things  we  have. 

"  Shortly  after  my  recovery,  Dick  was  taken  seriously  ill. 
I  was  not  able  to  attend  to  him  as  I  would  have  wished,  but 
the  other  children  did  all  they  could  for  him.  His  illness  was, 
however,  the  death-blow  to  my  stock  of  fowls.  These  are 
very  plentiful  in  Garenganze,  and  I  bought  a  large  number 
of  them  on  my  arrival,  hoping  by  careful  breeding  to  raise  a 
good  stock.  During  my  illness  quite  a  number  had  been  cooked, 
and  now  when  Dick  was  laid  down,  all  that  remained  were 
used  in  preparing  chicken  soup  for  him. 

"  My  other  little  boy,  Johnny,  was  bought  by  Kasoma  in 
the  Lunda  country  without  my  knowledge.  I  saw  he  was 
a  bright  httle  fellow  and  took  him  from  Kasoma.  Though 
young,  he  does  a  wonderful  amount  of  work,  and  is  very  intelli- 
gent ;  says  he  is  going  to  learn  to  write.  Besides  being  very 
active,  he  is  about  the  prettiest  black  boy  I  have  seen. 

"  The  third,  Segunda,  is  a  mere  infant.  When  brought  to 
my  camp  here  for  sale,  no  one  would  have  him,  so  at  last  they 
brought  him  on  to  my  hut  which  was  outside  the  rest.  I 
turned  the  man  away  as  usual,  saying  I  did  not  buy  people, 
but  back  he  came,  beseeching  me  to  relieve  him  of  this  little 
burden.  He  had  been  taken  in  war,  and  his  captor  was  going 
off  on  another  errand  and  wished  to  be  rid  of  him.  I  would  not 
believe  that  the  boy  was  captured  without  his  mother  ;  he, 
however,  insisted  that  it  was  so.  I  sent  Kasoma  to  find  out, 
and  he  reported  that  there  was  no  appearance  of  the  child's 
mother  ;  so  I  bought  him  for  four  yards  of  calico.  He  has  ever 
since  been  ailing,  can  seldom  be  made  to  smile,  and  only  looks 
up  half  tearfully  with  his  large  dark  eyes.  By  his  language  I 
judge  that  he  belongs  to  some  far-off  tribe.  We  have  not  been 
able  by  any  amount  of  compromise  to  come  to  an  understanding 
with  each  other  yet. 

"  Chinze,  the  fourth  little  one,  was  bought  by  a  Bihe  trader, 
had  been  suffering  for  long  from  very  sore  feet,  and  was  quite 
unable  to  go  with  the  rest  to  Bihe.     The  man  asked  me  to 


IN  GARENGANZE  193 

take  care  of  her  until  his  return,  a  year  or  so  hence,  but  I  would 
not  consent  to  do  so  unless  he  made  the  child  over  to  me,  as 
I  could  not  think  of  giving  her  up  again  after  a  year.  We 
finally  agreed  on  the  matter,  so  the  little  girl  Chinze  is  now 
mine.  Were  I  to  give  her  up,  she  would  just  be  sold  at  the 
coast.  I  think  I  shall  manage  to  cure  the  feet  within  a  month 
or  two.  At  this  rate,  in  this  centre  of  the  slave  traffic,  there  is 
no  saying  what  the  limits  of  my  family  will  be.  These  last  two 
little  things,  Segunda  and  Chinze,  have  been,  I  may  say, 
forced  upon  me ;  I  cannot  but  acknowledge  the  hand  of  God 
in  the  matter.  It  will  hinder  me  from  going  round  among  the 
villages  as  I  might  otherwise  do.  Still,  the  training  of  these 
is  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  will  tell  directly  on  the  work 
in  the  years  to  come. 

"  The  Bihe  men  who  are  still  with  me  are  anxious  to  be  off 
to  their  own  country,  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  them  away. 
Keeping  them  all  these  months  has  been  a  great  expense  and 
trial  to  me.  When  we  arrived  here  in  February  I  gave  each  of 
them  so  many  beads,  besides  cloth,  promising  that  I  would  try 
and  procure  for  each  one  a  small  tooth  of  ivory  before  they  left, 
provided  they  did  not  spend  the  beads  and  cloth  in  buying 
slaves,  but  kept  them  for  food.  You  can  imagine,  then,  how 
disappointed  I  was,  when  I  saw  them,  without  exception, 
selling  all  they  had — even  stripping  themselves,  and  putting  on 
sackcloth — ^to  find  the  wherewithal  to  buy  slaves.  Thus,  the 
number  of  mouths  in  my  camp  has  been  trebled,  while  the 
means  to  provide  for  them  has  been  reduced.  The  camp  has 
ever  since  been  a  regular  slave  pen.  I  have  put  my  hut  outside 
of  it,  and  given  the  people  of  the  country  to  understand  that 
I  have  nothing  to  do  with  this  slave  buying  and  tying  up 
business.  I  have  done  what  I  can  to  keep  my  men  supplied, 
though  it  has  cost  me  all  that  I  had,  even  to  my  bedsheets  and 
spare  clothing,  and  my  owti  food  has  been  like  theirs  all  the 
while. 

''August  2nd,  1886. — Five  of  the  loads  I  left  at  Nana  Kan- 
dundu  were  brought  on  to-day.  Cinyama's  men,  who  had 
escaped  at  the  time  of  the  scare  that  took  place  six  weeks 
previously  at  the  Lualaba  River,  had  gone  on  to  Nana  Kan- 
dundu,  not  thinking  to  return.  But  changing  their  minds  they 
proposed  to  the  old  lady  that  she  should  deliver  up  to  them 
some  of  my  loads,  and  they  would  return  to  Garenganze  in 


194  IN   GARENGANZE 

search  of  their  relatives.  She  not  only  complied  with  their 
request,  but  sent  one  or  two  of  her  own  people  with  them. 

"  I  heard  of  the  robbery  of  a  small  bale  of  cloth  which  I 
had  left  at  Nana  Kandundu.  It  appears  that  a  half-caste 
Portuguese  had  presented  a  letter  to  the  chief  tainess,  purporting 
to  be  from  me,  and  upon  this  false  representation  he  got  her 
to  deliver  up  to  him  a  valuable  bale  of  cloth.  Beads  are,  how- 
ever, very  valuable  in  this  country,  and  a  fair  supply  of  them 
has  just  been  brought  to  me.  These  will  enable  me  to  push 
forward  with  the  building  of  my  house. 

'"''Aug.  22nd. — I  have  been  able  successfully  to  refuse  a 
present  of  ivory  from  Msidi.  He  was  anxious  to  give  me  some 
large  teeth  to  go  out  with  my  man  Cinyama,  but  I  refused. 
These  African  chiefs  think  so  much  of  their  ivory,  and  they 
always  expect  more  in  return.  Besides  it  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  that  I  keep  free  of  all  obligations  to  anyone  in  this 
country. 

^^Aug.  2Srd. — Sent  off  Cinyama  and  Kasoma  with  letters  for 
home,  and  careful  instructions  to  look  out  for  any  white  man 
in  Bihe  or  at  the  coast  who  might  be  enquiring  for  me.  Msidi 
sent  by  Cinyama  a  verbal  message  to  bring  in,  with  all  speedy 
any  brother  of  mine  that  he  might  find. 

"  I  arrived  here  with  only  one  pair  of  boots,  intending 
to  manufacture  some  kind  of  shoe,  but  I  have  found  no  suit- 
able bark  here.  The  dry  season  is  now  almost  past.  The 
boots  I  have  are  through  in  the  soles,  out  at  the  toes  and  sides, 
and  all  the  sewing  of  the  uppers  rotten.  Yesterday  morning 
when  going  down  to  visit  the  chief,  I  said  to  Kasoma  that  I 
thought  of  asking  him  if  he  had  any  spare  boots  about  him, 
but  changed  my  mind  and  did  not  mention  the  matter  to 
anyone.  This  morning  a  young  man  came  along  with  a  pair 
of  boots  to  sell,  the  first  time  boots  were  ever  brought  to  me  for 
sale  in  this  country.  They  were  almost  quite  new,  of  fine 
leather,  and  on  trying  them  on  they  fitted  me  perfectly,  the 
best-fitting  boots  I  have  ever  had.  '  How  much  for  them  ?  ' 
*  Four  yards.'  I  had  just  four  yards  on  hand.  I  could  not  have 
believed  five  minutes  before  that  such  a  pair  of  boots  were  in 
the  country,  for  even  in  Benguella  I  could  not  get  boots  to  fit 
me.  It  seems  that  they  were  brought  by  a  native  trader  some 
time  ago  to  Mohenge,  the  chief  whose  village  I  passed  on  my 
way  here.    One  of  Moshide's  sons  had  gone  to  visit  him,  when 


IN   GARENGANZE  195 

Mohenge  gave  him  the  boots  as  a  present.  He  seems  to  have 
worn  them  but  for  a  few  days,  then  sent  them  for  sale  to  me 
this  morning.    So  I  thank  God  for  the  boots. 

"  Sept.  27th,  1886. — You  ask  if  the  tribes  around  are  willing 
to  let  the  Garenganze  alone  without  raiding  upon  them  ? 
The  tribes  around,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  are  very  much  weaker 
than  the  Garenganze,  and  instead  of  attempting  to  raid  on 
the  Garenganze  they  suffer  immensely  at  their  hands.  Msidi 
• — who  on  the  one  hand  can  take  into  his  care  some  poor  use- 
less stranger  with  a  body  deformed  with  disease  and  sin,  and 
provide  for  him,  giving  him  a  wife  and  house  with  a  small  barn 
full  of  corn,  on  the  simple  plea  that  the  man  was  poor,  as  he 
said  to  me  on  my  asking  a  reason  for  his  conduct — does  not 
hesitate  on  the  other  hand  to  form  and  send  out,  with  the 
greatest  gusto  and  evident  delight,  his  war  parties,  who  go  and 
devastate  whole  districts,  bringing  in  slaves  (women  and 
children),  ivory,  etc.,  with  the  heads  of  the  slain,  the  flesh  of 
which  has  been  cut  off  by  the  women  and  children,  relatives  of 
the  slain.  Such  ghastliness  delights  this  strangely  inconsistent 
man  greatly.  I  can  only  account  for  it  by  repeating  an  old 
remark  of  mine,  that  avarice  eats  up  all  other  passions  and 
feelings  in  the  African  once  that  passion  is  roused.  Poor 
Msidi  !  a  man  with  a  noble  mind  as  his  lofty  benevolent-looking 
head  shows — he  has  a  very  grandly  shaped  head — and  a  high 
appreciation  of  that  which  is  good  and  noble.  For  instance, 
when  I  spoke  to  him  some  time  ago  in  Umbundu  things  that 
might  have  highly  irritated  the  Barotse  chief,  this  man  only 
declared  as  to  the  excellence  of  my  words.  He  knew  also  how 
noble  a  people  the  English  were,  for  it  was  their  delight  to 
watch  for  slavers,  and  capture  them,  and  liberate  the  slaves. 
How  strangely  incongruous  to  hear  such  words  coming  from 
so  great  a  man-stealer. 

"  Msidi,  professedly  in  sympathy  with  me,  took  a  notion 
into  his  head  that  I  had  better  move  nearer  to  him,  so  that  he 
could  visit  me  when  sick,  and  sent  me  word  to  that  effect  by 
his  brother.  This  is  the  third  or  fourth  time  he  has  urged  me 
to  come  near  him,  though  now  it  only  takes  me  15  minutes 
to  walk  to  his  chief  capital.  I,  however,  laid  the  matter  before 
the  Lord,  and  thought  perhaps  that  it  might  be  His  will  that 
I  should  so  be  actually  in  the  midst  of  the  people.  As  soon 
as  I  was  able,  two  days  ago,  I  went  to  visit  him.    I  was  not 


196  IN  GARENGANZE 

prepared  to  contend  the  matter,  but  simply  to  hear  Msidi's 
proposals.  He,  however,  had  nothing  to  say  further  than  if  I 
thought  of  it  he  would  build  me  a  house  at  his  town,  though  it 
would  have  to  be  a  small  one,  as  the  rains  were  upon  us.  I 
stated  my  objections  :  the  heat,  the  drumming  (which  goes 
on  all  night  at  times),  the  gun-firing,  etc.  The  heat  and  close- 
ness of  the  place,  however,  were  my  chief  objection.  I  always 
feel  oppressed  when  down  visiting  him,  but  whenever  one 
rounds  the  point  of  my  hill, '  it  is  like  entering  another  country,' 
as  Honjos'  men  said  yesterday  when  carrying  me  on  my  tepoia, 
and  when  the  short  climb  is  made  to  my  house,  it  is  as  cool  and 
fresh  as  possible.  I  also  feel  that  I  am  nearest  here  to  the  best 
water  in  the  whole  neighbourhood.  So  I  feel  that  the  Lord 
has  had  to  do  with  my  choosing  this  site,  and  that  it  is  His  will 
that  I  remain  here.  Msidi  finally  closed  the  conversation  by 
saying  that  it  was  of  little  consequence,  the  matter  was  entirely 
at  my  own  disposing. 

"  Oct.  1st,  1886. — No  sooner  had  Cinyama  left,  than  I  had 
a  very  severe  attack  of  fever,  which  laid  me  quite  low  for  nearly 
a  month.  It  was  during  the  dry  season,  and  the  nearest  water 
was  some  three  miles  distant.  Turning  my  book  box  into  a  bath, 
I  managed  to  keep  down  the  temperature  by  taking  hot  baths. 

"  A  young  man  named  Susi,  who  had  just  come  from  Bihe, 
was  of  great  service  in  helping  my  lad  Dick  to  carry  water 
for  me.  In  one  night  these  two  lads  went  three  times  to  the 
watering  place,  giving  me  as  many  hot  baths  during  the  night. 
Next  morning  my  temperature  was  much  lowered,  and,  though 
very  weak,  I  was  evidently  recovering.  I  proved  at  this  time 
the  value  of  a  simple  food  made  of  Indian  corn  meal,  boiled 
into  a  thick  gruel,  to  which  was  added  the  juice  from  a  root, 
extracted  by  pounding.  In  a  few  hours  the  juice  had  the  effect 
of  converting  the  gruel  into  a  thick,  sweet,  milk-like  fluid,  the 
hard  part  of  the  grain  being  deposited  in  the  form  of  gritty, 
unpalatable  dregs.  Msidi  was  very  kind  to  me  during  this 
time,  and  repeatedly  sent  messengers  urging  me  to  move  my 
habitation  nearer  to  his,  that  he  might  be  better  able  to  visit 
me  when  sick. 

"  A  peculiar  feature  of  this  slow  intermittent  fever  is  sleep- 
lessness. I  spent  long  sleepless  nights,  when  the  mind,  wander- 
ing incessantly,  was  almost  always  at  home.  If  I  happened 
to  fall  into  a  dreamy  sleep,  I  was  at  once  there,  perhaps  in  a 


IN  GARENGANZE  197 

sunny,  snow-white  bed,  with  a  big  fire  blazing  in  the  room, 
and  my  mother  bringing  in  a  tray  full  of  most  delightful  jellies, 
etc.  All  my  sickness  would  disappear,  and  I  would  delight 
in  the  miraculous  return  of  health  and  strength.  Opening  my 
eyes  I  found  nothing  but  a  dark,  dreary,  confined  hut  around 
me,  and  the  wind  blowing  through  piteously,  and  moaning  in 
the  branches  of  the  tree  above.  My  days,  however,  were  not 
spent  unhappily,  or  my  nights,  for  that  matter.  I  had  much 
quiet  peace  of  mind  and  pleasure  in  the  study  of  the  Word, 
which  indeed  was  my  chief  employment,  as  I  was  not  able 
to  do  much  out  of  doors. 

"  My  hope  is,  that  the  Lord  mil  give  me  grace  and  patience 
to  hold  the  ground  until  others  come  forward  to  help  in  the 
work,  and  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  remain  by  them  for  their 
help  and  encouragement.  Time,  indeed,  seems  to  be  nothing 
so  long  as  He  gives  the  grace  and  patience  to  wait.  Last  night, 
when  in  prayer,  I  was  greatly  refreshed  by  a  realisation  of  the 
exceeding  abundance  and  sufficiency  of  His  grace  in  every 
possible  emergency — in  '  every  time  of  need  ' — and  I  was 
enabled  to  ask  for  perfect  and  enduring  contentment  under 
all  circumstances. 

"  I  and  m^^  boys  are  entirely  alone,  all  the  Biheans  having 
gone  off.  The  Garenganze  are  exceedingly  slow  in  coming 
to  me  ;  still  a  few  do  come.  We  are  longing  intensely  for  rain  ; 
the  sun  is  scorching,  and  the  ground  gets  as  hot  as  coals  in  a 
fire.  To  add  to  my  troubles,  Dick  has  been  taken  ill,  and  is 
quite  laid  aside. 

' '  To-day  I  have  had  two  men  employed  in  covering  my 
house  mth  grass  ;  it  is  much  better  now,  and  I  hope  to  have 
it  finished  within  another  month. 

"  Oct.  3rd. — This  morning  Dick  came  hobbling  on  a  stick 
to  greet  me  with  a  smile  on  his  face.  This  is  the  first  day  he 
has  been  able  to  get  out. 

"  Oct.  21st. — Have  just  returned  from  a  week's  trip  to  the 
Lufira.  I  shot  two  zebras  with  which  to  pay  the  men  who 
had  carried  me  in  my  hammock.  Not  having  sufficient  strength 
to  go  out  hunting,  the  men  promised  me  that  they  would 
carry  me  in  my  hammock  to  where  the  game  was  to  be  found — 
a  much  more  arduous  task  than  carrying  one  along  a  beaten 
track.  Seeing  they  persisted,  I  was  willing  to  give  them  a 
chance  of  having  some  fresh  meat.    We  started  early  in  the 


198  IN   GARENGANZE 

morning,  the  men  pushing  their  way  through  the  colossal 
grasses.  The  jagged  roots  punished  the  feet  of  my  men  severely, 
because  of  the  heavy  weight  of  my  hammock  pole  in  their 
shoulders.  After  travelling  some  miles  in  this  manner,  those 
who  had  gone  on  ahead  returned  to  say  that  we  must  go  softly, 
as  we  were  near  some  game.  Soon  we  came  in  sight  of  a  large 
herd  of  zebra.  The  men  thought  that  I  had  better  get  out  and 
do  the  rest  of  the  hunting  on  foot.  But  this  I  gravely  declined 
doing,  saying  they  must  carry  me  alongside  of  the  herd.  The 
zebras  had  not  been  accustomed  to  be  stalked  in  such  a  daring 
manner,  and  gazed  upon  us  with  astonishment,  allowing  my 
hammock  to  be  carried  to  within  fifty  yards  of  them.  I  then 
quietly  got  out,  took  my  gun,  sat  down  on  a  little  ant-hill,  and 
shot  the  biggest  and  fattest  of  the  troop.  Whilst  some  of  the 
men  skinned  and  cut  it  up,  the  others  carried  me  safely  back 
to  my  sleeping  quarters.  The  heat  was  excessive,  and  in 
returning  we  were  compelled  to  travel  by  night,  as  the  men 
could  not  endure  the  sun.  At  the  Lufira  I  could  not  go  out  of 
doors  during  midday  hours.  On  my  delightful  little  hill,  how- 
ever, there  is  always  a  breeze,  and  the  shade  is  always  cool. 
'  Oh,  for  rain  !  '  is  the  cry  in  everyone's  mouth.  All  the  trees 
that  but  a  short  time  ago  looked  green  and  fresh  are  beginning 
to  wither  and  droop. 

"  I  was  much  struck  during  this  trip,  while  traversing  the 
'  Mukurru,'  by  the  number  of  villages,  especially  in  the  eastern 
part.  In  the  course  of  two  hours  I  counted  43,  within  sight 
from  the  road,  all  of  fair  size,  and  all  the  land  between  was 
under  cultivation. 

"  Nov.  4th. — Since  recovering  from  my  last  fever,  Dick  has 
sho^vn  signs  of  true  conversion.  One  evening  when  we  were 
talking  together  he  seemed  to  receive  a  peculiar  measure  of 
joy.  Our  theme  was  the  Cross  ;  and  though  naturally  he  had 
a  dull,  heavy  countenance,  his  face  lightened  up  marvellously 
and  both  mouth  and  heart  were  filled  with  the  spirit  of  praise. 
That  night  I  learned  that  my  dictatorial  ways  had  been  that 
which  had  previously  hindered  my  boy,  and  had  produced  only 
a  Hfeless  confession.  That  very  night  the  thought  occurred 
to  me  that  my  boy  would  despise  me,  and  serve  me  with  less 
respect,  seeing  I  had  humbled  myself  with  him.  But  very 
much  the  contrary  has  been  the  case,  for  never  has  he  served 
me  more  joyfully  and  thoroughly  than  since  then. 


IN   GARENGANZE  199 

"  After  this  Dick  became  very  anxious  to  learn  to  read  and 
write,  a  study  for  which  he  was  mentally  unfitted.  I  did  my 
best  to  instruct  him,  but  he  was  so  anxious  about  it  that 
sometimes  when  he  came  before  me  to  read  he  would  so  tremble 
with  excitement  that  I  had  to  send  him  away  to  some  outside 
work.  Latterly  he  began  to  complain  very  much  of  headaches  ; 
fever  symptoms  set  in,  then  great  wandering  of  the  mind, 
which  increased  so  that  for  ten  days  he  was  quite  insane,  though 
active  and  vigorous.  I  had  to  do  all  but  bind  him,  watching 
him  night  and  day,  and  was  the  only  one  who  had  any  power 
whatever  with  him.  On  the  2nd  of  November  he  had  so  far 
recovered  as  to  be  able  to  sleep  quietly  at  night,  but  during 
the  day  he  went  about  in  a  stupid  way,  not  a  smile  crossing 
his  face  ;  yet  occasionally  I  could  see  a  tear  stealing  do^vn  his 
cheek.  There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  give  him  plenty  of  hard 
out-door  work. 

"  Dick  comes  from  the  Zambesi,  and  has  been  with  me  for 
three  years.  As  you  will  well  understand,  many  fresh  cares 
and  anxieties  rise  in  my  mind  for  him,  which  I  can  only  cast 
upon  the  Lord,  who  alone  is  able  to  make  any  to  stand,  to 
restore,  and  to  uphold  those  who  fell." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE    PEOPLE 

"  TV  TOV.  Qth,  1886.— We  have  had  heavy  rains  lately,  to 
/  Y  the  joy  of  everyone.  It  is  in  such  a  place,  and  at 
such  a  time,  that  one  realises  the  blessings  of  rain. 
Six  months  of  drought  under  a  tropical  sun  had  blackened  and 
scorched  the  very  stones  ;  the  earth,  cracked  and  gaping  all 
over,  was  at  any  hour  of  the  day  at  a  higher  temperature  than 
my  bare  foot  could  endure,  and  during  the  heat  of  the  day  I 
could  not  even  hop  on  it  without  running  the  risk  of  raising 
blisters  on  my  feet  like  half-crowns.  Now  all  is  cool,  green  and 
refreshing,  my  hill  is  covered  with  a  magnificent  show  of  flowers, 
and  the  grass  is  already  from  two  to  three  inches  high.  How 
such  baked  earth  could  ever  again  yield  grass,  and  that  at  the 
first  sprinkling  of  rain,  is  marvellous. 

"  The  rains  have,  however,  put  a  check  on  my  daily  routine  ; 
my  patients  have  to  be  visited  now  during  whatever  part  of 
the  day  is  likely  to  be  dry,  instead  of  in  the  afternoon.  Because 
of  rheumatism  I  am  quite  nervous  about  being  caught  in  the 
rain.  To-day  I  was  caught  in  a  shower  when  out  dressing  the 
foot  of  a  wounded  man,  page  to  one  of  Msidi's  head  wives  ; 
I  had  to  go  back  to  my  house,  so  the  queen  offered  me  her 
blanket  to  put  round  me.  I  gladly  accepted  it,  and  marched 
home  in  my  glory,  robed  in  her  coloured  blanket.  I  have  sent 
my  hammock,  however,  to  bring  the  suffering  man  to  me  ;  his 
friends  come  with  him  to-morrow  to  build  a  hut  near  me,  and 
two  will  remain  with  him  here.  His  foot  is  in  a  fearful  condition, 
and  will  need  much  attention.  This  will  be  my  first  '  hospital 
hut.'  The  Lord  works  His  o\vn  plans  in  His  own  way,  and  this 
seems  to  be  the  sort  of  auxiliary  work  that  He  is  leading  me  into. 
I  have  had  remarkable  success  with  all  sorts  of  diseases  since 
coming  here,  fully  nine-tenths  being  cured  within  a  very  short 
period.  I  have  done  little  as  yet  in  the  way  of  school  work. 
"  Kagoma,  at  the  Lukuruwe  River,  sent  word  a  few  days  ago 

200 


THE   PEOPLE  201 

that  he  intended  sending  men  to  carry  mc  in  my  hammock  to 
pay  him  another  visit,  so  you  see  I  am  busy,  and,  I  can  add, 
happy  ;    indeed,  most  happy. 

"  Since  the  hot  weather  has  set  in,  my  health  has  improved 
wonderfully.  My  appetite  knows  no  bounds,  and  is  satisfied 
with  the  coarsest  of  foods.  One  could  not  imagine  a  more 
repulsive  dish — 'tis  so  to  many,  and  was  so  to  me  until  lately — 
than  Kaffir  corn  porridge  mixed  with  red  palm  oil,  of  which 
soap  is  made — yet  I  can  enjoy  it  right  heartily.  My  eyes  give 
me  little  trouble  now. 

"  Nov.  15th. — Dick  was  out  with  me  visiting  a  patient.  On 
the  way  we  were  caught  in  a  heavy  shower.  The  next  day  he 
was  complaining.  A  cough  and  a  slight  fever  followed,  lasting 
for  two  or  three  days.  Since  then  he  has  been  quite  insane. 
I  can't  tell  you  how  it  cuts  me  to  the  very  quick  to  put  this  word 
on  paper,  but  so  it  is.  I  am  sitting  up  now  watching  him,  and 
am  almost  worn  out.  This  is  the  third  night  of  positive  madness, 
trying  to  run  off  into  the  bush  from  the  great  serpents  he  sees 
hanging  all  round,  and  attempting  to  set  fire  to  my  huts.  It  is 
only  when  he  is  directly  under  my  eye  that  he  is  at  all  quiet. 
Then  indeed  he  crouches  more  hke  an  animal,  and  is  ready  to 
cry  if  I  say  anything  harsh  to  him,  but  no  one  else  can  control 
him.  There  is  no  other  symptom  of  disease  that  I  can  discover. 
He  eats  well,  and  his  head  is  quite  cool,  though  in  his  quieter 
turns,  during  the  day,  he  complains  of  a  pain  somewhere  in  the 
back  of  his  head.  At  first  I  thought  it  would  soon  pass  off,  but 
now  I  go  about  like  a  man  bereaved.  Long  twangs  of  loneli- 
ness come  over  me.  I  had  just  begun  to  find  a  joy  in  Dick's 
companionship,  when  it  seems,  for  the  time  at  least,  to  be 
snatched  from  me  by  his  renewed  illness  and  suffering  in  mind  ; 
yet  I  can  say  from  my  heart,  that  God's  perfect  way,  though 
hard  to  the  flesh,  is  not  hard  to  love  ;  for  \\dth  Him  alone  is 
companionship,  and  all  else  is  desolation  and  darkness. 

"  The  chief  sent  for  me  early  this  morning,  asking  me  to  visit 
his  brother,  some  distance  off,  who  is  ill,  and  whose  wife  had 
gone  out  of  her  mind.  I  trudged  off  with  the  king's  page,  sent 
to  conduct  me,  returning  late  in  the  afternoon,  throbbing  all 
over  with  the  excessive  heat  of  the  sun.  This  heat,  however,  I 
must  confess,  suits  me  ;  I  have  grown  stronger  during  these 
last  six  weeks. 

"  In  going  about  from  place  to  place,  I  better  understand  the 


202  THE   PEOPLE 

size  of  this  Mukurru,  or  inhabited  plain.  It  takes  a  good  day's 
journey  to  traverse  it,  being  between  eight  to  ten  miles  in 
width.  The  ground  is  chiefly  covered  with  fields,  in  the  midst 
of  which  the  River  Bunkeya  runs,  but  the  clusters  of  huts  are 
many,  and  scattered  all  over.  Here  and  there  are  centres,  in 
which  the  king  has  his  own  houses,  where,  to  the  extent  of  half 
a  mile  or  so  each  way,  the  houses  of  the  people  are  built 
together. 

"  In  the  midst  of  all  these  people  the  amount  of  quietness 
and  peace  that  reigns  is  remarkable.  The  fear  of  Msidi  is 
great.  He  is  sharp  and  severe  in  his  government,  though  I  see 
or  hear  of  nothing  in  the  way  of  torture  or  cruelty  inflicted  by 
his  orders  as  a  means  of  punishment ;  yet  executions  are 
common,  but  death  is  inflicted  at  once,  and  in  the  most  expedi- 
tious manner.  All  the  cases  of  which  I  have  heard  particulars 
have  been  those  of  actual  crime,  and  not  of  witchcraft  or  any 
other  mere  superstition.  The  king  has  a  long  iron  chain, 
which  he  uses  for  punishing  minor  offenders.  To  this  they  are 
bound  by  the  neck,  perhaps  ten  or  twelve  at  a  time,  and  are 
sent  out  to  his  fields  to  work — a  very  sensible  arrangement, 
I  think,  and  much  better  than  the  cruel  flogging  so  common 
in  Africa. 

"  October  is  the  hoeing  time,  and  it  is  a  pleasure  to  see  every- 
one turning  out  to  the  fields.  The  men  indeed,  so  far  as  I  can 
judge,  do  a  large  share  of  the  work  ;  and  the  husbands  tell  me 
that  after  all  their  hard  day's  work,  it  is  dangerous  to  return 
home  in  the  evening  without  a  heavy  log  of  wood  to  keep  up  the 
night  fire.  The  part  which  Msidi  takes  in  this  is  very  commend- 
able. Not  only  does  he  go  to  the  fields  with  his  people  to 
labour,  but  he  encourages  his  own  sons  to  work,  and  so  makes 
labour  honourable.  I  have  seen  him  go  out  every  day,  with  a 
large  band  of  hoers,  for  weeks  together,  and  often  stand  in  the 
middle  of  the  field  when  rain  was  falling  heavily,  watching  the 
workers.  At  other  times  his  people  would  have  left  their  work 
for  shelter,  but  when  Msidi  was  there  they  had  to  be  '  wet- 
weather  soldiers.' 

"  One  would  suppose  that  there  is  abundance  of  food  all  the 
year  round,  but  it  is  not  so.  The  prodigal  waste  of  corn  in  the 
dry  season  in  brewing  beer  passes  description.  They  make 
beer  of  the  strongest  kind,  filling  large  bark  vessels,  holding 
as  much  as  20  or  30  gallons.     It  is  free  to  all-comers,  and 


THE   PEOPLE  203 

drinking  is  kept  up  night  and  day  in  the  yard  until  the  vessels 
are  emptied  ;  and  then  in  two  or  three  days  the  fruit  of  weeks 
of  toil  in  hoeing,  and  months  of  weeding  and  watching,  has 
vanished  like  smoke.  A  dull,  sleepy  state,  rather  than  levity 
and  quarrelling,  seems  to  be  the  effect  of  over-drinking  this 
heavy  beer.  I  have  only  seen  one  man  who  had  any  appearance 
of  being  a  sotted  drunkard,  in  spite  of  the  amount  of  drink 
consumed.    I  suppose  this  is  because  it  is  always  taken  fresh. 

"  The  cruel  raiding  on  other  tribes  which  is  kept  up,  in  which 
many  of  the  men  are  killed  and  the  women  captured,  has 
brought  into  the  Garenganze  an  immense  number  of  women, 
so  that  the  proportion  of  women  to  men  is  very  unequal  ; 
consequently  polygamy  is  carried  on  to  a  shameful  extent. 

"  Marriages  are  made,  not  by  purchase  exactly,  as  in  Zulu- 
land  ;  neither  do  the  wife  and  her  children  continue  to  be  the 
property  of  her  brothers,  as  among  the  Ovimbundu  tribes,  but 
a  present  is  made  to  the  father  of  the  bride,  who  forthwith 
disposes  of  his  daughter  ;  she,  however,  may  leave  her  husband 
at  any  time,  if  she  cares  to  do  so.  The  case  may  then  be 
brought  to  the  chief,  and  if  the  wife  be  at  fault  the  present 
must  be  returned  ;  if  the  husband  has  ill-treated  his  wife,  then 
he  has  driven  her  from  him,  so  there  is  no  one  to  blame  but 
himself.  In  disputes  among  themselves,  the  people  undoubtedly 
receive  fair  justice  at  the  hands  of  Msidi  ;  and  he  is  ready  to 
listen  to  all  who  come. 

"  Dec.  18th,  1886. — Dick  is  now  so  far  recovered  but  goes 
about  in  a  mournful  way.  I  notice  the  tears  roll  down  his 
cheek  at  times,  but  I  ask  him  no  questions,  only  seek  to  cheer 
him  up,  and  keep  him  employed  in  a  light  way.  The  desire  to 
learn,  coming  after  the  decided  spiritual  awakening,  has  I 
think  been  more  than  he  could  stand.  I  will  need  to  be  very 
careful  now  lest  I  again  lead  him  beyond  his  mental  depth. 
The  crouching  affection  he  showed  toward  me  during  those 
days  was  most  touching,  more  like  that  of  an  animal.  He 
would  go  to  sleep  a  little  at  nights  at  the  side  of  my  cot  bed, 
with  my  hand  upon  him.  You  can  well  understand  that  this 
has  been  and  is  a  trial  to  me. 

"  Dec.  25th. — On  Dec.  10th  I  started  for  the  wood  to  look 
for  game  as  I  am  much  in  want  of  meat.  In  the  evening  I  shot 
a  wart  hog.  I  reached  the  Lukuruwe  River  on  the  12th,  where 
I  spent  10  days  shooting  and  drying  meat.    I  shot  in  all  eight 


204  THE   PEOPLE 

antelopes,  three  zebras,  and  two  hippopotami.  I  have  returned 
with  abundance  of  dried  meat  enough  to  last  me  for  several 
months. 

"  While  at  the  Lukuruwe  I  had  a  narrow  escape.  I  had  been 
resting  during  the  heat  of  the  day,  my  bed  being  on  the  ground 
When  about  to  get  up  I  reached  out  for  my  hat,  intending  to  go 
outside,  when  whiz  came  a  spear  into  my  hut,  cutting  through 
the  rim  of  my  hat,  which  was  in  my  hand,  and  sticking  into  the 
ground  not  three  inches  from  my  side. 

"  At  another  time  a  man  and  I  were  out  alone  in  the  woods, 
when  the  call  of  a  honey-bird  attracted  us.  On  going  but  a 
short  way  it  halted  on  a  tall  tree.  We  were  looking  into  the 
tree  trying  to  find  the  honey,  when,  from  the  grass  which  lay 
between  us,  out  sprang  a  leopard  and  bounded  off.  The  wicked 
bird  had  led  us  to  his  lair. 

"  The  people  I  met  were  nearly  all  of  the  Basanga  tribe,  the 
original  occupants  of  the  country,  of  whom  there  are  now  but 
few.  I  scarce  understand  a  word  of  their  language  as  yet. 
Going  north-west,  nearly  to  the  Kalasa  mountains,  I  had  a 
good  view  of  the  famous  cavern  mountain,  which  is  inhabited. 
The  great  cave  has  two  entrances,  a  distance  of  five  miles  or 
more  apart,  and  within  is  a  running  stream.  There  are  also 
many  smaller  caves  and  dens  in  this  mountainous  country  in 
which  the  natives  hide  themselves.  The  entrances  to  these  caves 
look  like  rabbit  holes.  They  form  such  perfect  retreats  that 
Msidi  could  extort  no  tribute  from  these  people.  Near  the 
mouths  of  the  caves  they  have  millet  gardens.  They  greatly 
feared  my  inspecting  the  caves,  and  I  had  to  promise  that  I 
would  not  do  so,  or  none  would  have  come  near  me.  In  going 
amongst  their  villages  I  seldom  could  get  more  than  two  or 
three  together  at  one  time.  When,  however,  I  succeeded  in 
killing  the  two  hippopotami  in  the  river  close  by  my  camp,  and 
had  sent  round  an  invitation,  I  had  no  less  than  100  of  these 
poor  people,  who  gathered  together  and  were  willing  to 
remain  with  me  as  long  as  the  feast  lasted.  It  was  really  a 
big  Christmas  dinner  that  we  had  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  the  two 
hippopotami  forming  the  centre  dish,  with  zebra  and  antelope 
as  side  dishes. 

"  On  my  return  I  found  that  the  Arab  traders  with  whom  I 
had  intended  sending  letters  had  gone.  This  was  a  great  dis- 
appointment.   I  found  also  that  my  hut  had  been  broken  into. 


THE   PEOPLE  205 

A  large  blanket,  a  towel,  an  undershirt,  a  sack  of  corn,  etc.,  are 
gone. 

"  Dec.  SOth. — To-day  I  moved  into  my  new  house.  I  am 
very  glad  indeed  that  it  is  so  far  forward.  With  a  portion  of 
the  dried  meat  I  brought  with  me  I  was  enabled  to  employ 
labour  and  finish  the  mudding  of  the  inside. 

"Jaw.  1st,  1887. — A  New  Year  has  come  round  again  ;  the 
past  one  has  been  a  blank  to  me,  so  far  as  home  and  the  outer 
world  are  concerned,  the  last  letters  I  have  received  being 
dated  November,  1885. 

"  I  find  myself  well  housed,  in  good  health,  and  seem  to  be 
in  a  measure  settled  after  five  years  of  hut  and  camp  life.  Yet 
my  God  alone  knows. 

"  Jan.  2nd. — Before  so  many  of  the  people  gathered  to  my 
camp  we  had  a  rather  stirring  adventure.  Two  of  our  men, 
while  out  hunting,  were  benighted  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river.  Night  set  in  very  dark  indeed,  and  after  waiting  a  long 
time  for  the  absent  ones  the  men  in  camp  crossed,  and  made 
signals  to  guide  them  to  our  whereabouts  ;  and  above  the 
rushing  of  the  river  we  heard  their  voices  replying  to  us  on  the 
other  side.  I  ran  down  to  the  river  bank  in  order  to  guide  them, 
but  finding  that  my  voice  was  not  loud  enough  to  make  them 
hear  me,  I  called  to  my  men  in  camp  to  come  down  that  we 
might  all  shout  together,  and  so  cause  them  to  hear  us.  All 
accordingly  left  the  camp  and  joined  me.  We  had  only  shouted 
once  or  t"wdce  when  to  my  horror  I  heard  a  great  noise  in  the 
direction  of  the  camp,  w^hich  seemed  to  be  alive  \Adth  howling 
demons.  The  truth  was  that  the  wild  animals  of  the  forest  had 
taken  advantage  of  our  absence,  rushed  in,  and  were  devouring 
the  meat  they  found  there.  Some  parts  of  a  zebra  were  lying 
in  the  middle  of  the  enclosure,  and  a  family  of  hyenas,  accom- 
panied by  two  dog-leopards,  were  fighting  and  quarrelling  over 
it.  We  had  to  act  instantly,  and  having  no  fire  or  guns  in  our 
hands,  it  was  impossible  to  remain  out  of  our  shelter.  So 
taking  the  lead,  and  calling  to  my  men  to  come  on,  I  rushed 
at  full  speed  back  to  the  camp.  Taking  care  to  avoid  the 
doorway,  we  sprang  over  the  little  brush  barricade,  so  alarm- 
ing the  animals  with  our  shouts  and  yells  that  they  left  the 
meat  and  fled. 

"  Feb.  5th,  1887. — A  company  of  Arab  traders  arrived  here 
a  few  days  ago.    Yesterday  being  the  reception  day  for  them. 


206  THE   PEOPLE 

the  king  sent  for  me  to  come  and  sit  by  him  ;  and  many  of 
his  people  came  together.  Each  of  the  three  Arab  master- 
traders  brought  a  handsome  shawl  with  him  with  which  to 
deck  Msidi.  A  military  review  was  then  held,  after  which 
speeches  were  made  by  the  Arabs  and  by  the  king  and  his 
chiefs.  Msidi  then  gave  me  an  opportunity  of  speaking,  which 
I  would  most  gladly  have  taken  had  I  been  at  all  equal  to  it. 
I  was  glad,  however,  to  find  I  was  able  to  understand  nearly  all 
that  was  spoken  in  Seyek  ;  but  I  fear  my  address  would  be  no 
more  popular  here  than  at  Liwanika's  court  among  the  Barotse. 
The  sum  and  substance  of  their  speeches  on  such  an  occasion 
is  flattery  ;  past  events  are  rehearsed  and  discoursed  upon, 
and  all  things  greatly  exaggerated  and  contorted  to  suit  the 
occasion. 

"  Yesterday  morning  a  woman  was  caught  here  by  a  leopard 
while  in  her  field.  She  was  a  '  small  wife  '  of  the  king's,  and 
through  her  cries  assistance  came,  and  the  leopard  was  chased 
away  but  the  woman  died  shortly  after.  Msidi  at  once  sent  to 
me  for  some  poison  to  kill  the  leopard  should  it  return,  and  I 
gave  him  some  strychnine.  Instead,  however,  of  killing  a  goat 
or  a  dog  to  be  used  as  bait,  they  preferred  the  dead  woman's, 
body.  '  She  is  now  dead,'  said  the  chief.  '  What  can  we  do  ? 
Let  her  redeem  her  fellows  !  '  i.e.  from  the  leopard's  paw.  A 
great  deal  of  man-eating  by  wild  animals  goes  on.  The  number 
of  people  massed  together — more  given  to  cultivating  than  to 
hunting — and  the  custom  of  throwing  out  the  bodies  of  dead 
slaves,  has  given  these  animals  a  taste  for  human  flesh. 

"  In  my  small  compound,  yet  unfenced,  it  is  not  safe  for  any- 
one to  be  out  of  doors  after  dusk.  Little  Johnny  was  very  nearly 
caught  by  a  hyena  one  evening.  A  little  boy,  left  here  sick  by 
one  of  my  Bihe  carriers,  was  in  the  habit  of  coming  over  and 
eating  with  my  boys  of  an  evening,  and  sometimes  sleeping 
with  them.  I  missed  him  for  a  few  days,  and  on  inquiring, 
found  that  he  had  started  for  my  house  one  evening,  and  had 
not  returned.  He  doubtless  was  carried  off  by  one  of  these 
beasts  of  prey. 

"  Old  lions,  which  no  longer  have  teeth  strong  enough  to  pull 
down  large  game,  come  round  and  prey  upon  the  people,  and 
they  are  very  audacious.  A  woman  close  by  us  left  her  child 
sitting  in  front  of  her  hut  for  a  few  minutes.  On  returning  she 
found  that  the  child  had  been  carried  off  bv  one  of  these  retired 


THE   PEOPLE  207 

monarchs — his  footprints,  of  course,  telling  the  tale.  Out  in 
the  bush,  where  game  is  abundant,  it  is  quite  different,  and 
people  sleep  freely  out  in  the  open  country.  There  they  have 
simple  mat  doors  to  their  huts  ;  here  they  require  doors  of  reed, 
strongly  barred. 

"  I  got  a  pleasant  message  from  Kalolo,  the  village  which  I 
visited  last  year,  and  where  many  were  so  afraid  of  me  as  to 
sleep  in  the  field  all  night.  They  wanted  to  know  when  I  would 
return.  The  description  they  gave  was,  '  Ah  !  that  was  the 
good  white  man  that  visited  us,  that  gave  us  fcastings  of 
meat.'  It  is  a  rough,  hilly  country  that  lies  between,  but  I 
must  be  off  to  them  again,  '  if  by  any  means  I  may  win 
some.' 

"  Jan.  \5ifi. — After  the  mournful  report  as  to  Dick  given 
before,  I  must  needs  refer  to  him  again.  He  is  decidedly  better. 
An  unwonted  nervousness  is  the  only  sign  left  of  his  former 
derangement.  His  happiness  as  a  Christian  is  fully  restored 
and  he  has  set  himself  most  bravely  to  learn  to  read.  He  was 
always  much  opposed  to  this.  In  knowledge  of  the  Scripture, 
from  what  I  have  been  teaching  him,  he  is  also  progressing  well. 
I  had  repeatedly  referred  to  baptism,  explaining  its  full  meaning 
to  him  as  carefully  as  possible,  but  I  avoided  urging  it  upon  him, 
preferring  rather  that  it  should  be  indeed  with  him  '  an  answer 
of  a  good  conscience  toward  God.'  Last  night,  however,  he  told 
me  that  he  wished  to  be  baptised.  It  seems  he  had  been 
hindered  by  something  that  I  had  said  about  its  not  being  done 
secretly,  and  he  shrank  at  the  thought  of  a  large  company  of 
people  being  present.  But  for  a  sore  which  he  has  on  his  foot  I 
would  have  him  baptised  at  once.  Wlien  he  gets  over  this  we 
shall  not  delay. 

"  Feh.  ISth,  1887,  Lord's  Day. — This  morning  I  baptised  my 
lad  Dick  in  a  pool  here.  I  fully  realise  the  responsibility  of  my 
doing  so  alone,  that  is  without  the  testimony  of  another  as  to 
Dick's  conversion.  It  has  not  been  done  hurriedly,  but  after 
months  of  waiting,  since  his  profession  of  conversion,  during 
which  time  I  have  been  daily  more  persuaded  of  its  reality. 
Susi,  my  other  lad,  is  applying  for  baptism. 

"  Before  going  do\Mi  to  the  water  we  had  a  solemn  time  in 
my  house  A\ith  Dick,  Susi,  and  another  man  who  is  deeply 
interested,  though  I  cannot  as  yet  say  under  any  especial 
con\'iction. 


208  THE   PEOPLE 

"  Well !  we  had  a  solemn  time  by  the  pool  out  on  the  flat  to 
which  we  went.  To  get  down  to  the  water  we  had  to  break  our 
way  through  long  rank  grass,  and  close  by  I  noticed  the  fresh 
footprints  of  a  leopard  that  had  drunk  water  there  in  the 
morning.  After  a  short  prayer  in  Umbundu,  Dick  was  baptised 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
It  was  a  solemnly  glad  time,  and  all  seemed  to  feel  it.  We 
then  returned  to  ray  house  and  spent  a  long  time  in  earnest 
conversation. 

"  When  parting,  six  years  ago,  with  dear  Mr.  Dyer,  he 
remarked,  in  his  usual  solemn  way,  that  '  it  would  be  a  day 
never  to  be  forgotten  by  me  when  the  first  one  was  baptised 
under  the  dark  Zambesi  waters.'  To-day  a  dark  Zambesi 
sinner  has  been  baptised  in  the  Garenganze  waters,  and  it  is 
but  the  beginning  of  God's  kindness  to  us  and  to  these  people  ; 
there  are  more  to  follow. 

"  Until  very  recently  the  chief  thought  that  presented  itself 
to  me  in  connection  with  baptism  was  that  of  death  and  burial  ; 
but  now  it  seems  to  me  that  the  thought  of  resurrection  and 
new  life  is  by  no  means  to  be  omitted,  but  rather  to  take  the 
leading  place.  In  1  Peter  iii,  21,  it  is  directly  connected  with^ 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  baptism,  being  called 
'  the  interrogation  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God,'  implies 
life.  As  the  new-born  babe  cries,  so  new-born  souls  call  upon 
Him  who  is  the  source  of  their  life. 

"  My  relationship  with  the  people,  though  very  good  from  the 
first,  is  if  anything  impro\'ing.  I  find  that  both  the  king  and 
his  people  make  every  effort  to  please  me,  and  seem  desirous  to 
give  me  every  encouragement  to  remain  among  them,  giving 
their  consent  to  everything  I  suggest,  and  shutting  me  up  with 
flattery.  Augustine,  referring  to  Proverbs  xviii,  21,  remarked 
that  '  our  daily  furnace  was  the  tongue  of  men.'  Paul  and 
Barnabas  found  grace  to  resist  the  flattery  of  those  who  cried 
out  that  the  gods  had  come  down  among  them  ;  and  afterwards 
grace,  to  resist  their  slanders  and  stones,  was  not  withheld  from 
them.  Still  we  have  much  reason  to  rejoice  and  to  give  thanks 
for  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life  in  what  is  generally  considered 
to  be  the  heart  of  savagedom,  and  the  haunt  of  every  cruelty. 

"  Though  outwardly  things  are  thus  quiet  and  agreeable,  yet 
there  lacks  not  opposition  from  certain  quarters.  The  Arab 
traders  who  come  here  have  done  what  they  could  in  spreading 


X     S 


THE   PEOPLE  209 

evil  reports  and  lying  stories  about  the  '  designing  English,' 
etc.  The  rains  were  exceedingly  late  this  year,  and  when  a 
regular  drought  was  threatening,  some  of  the  '  doctors  '  of  the 
land  would  fain  have  laid  the  blame  at  my  door  ;  but  the  story 
did  not  take.  The  spear,  also,  that  was  thrown  at  me  in  the 
bush  close  by  the  Lukuruwe  River  shows  that  the  enemy, 
though  he  lurks  snake-like  in  the  grass,  is  present,  and  will 
doubtless  watch  his  opportunity  for  raising  more  opposition. 

"  Difficulties  have  arisen  becavise  I  have  not  followed  the 
custom  of  giving  presents  to  bands  of  drummers  in  camp.  I 
have  refused  to  do  so,  and  have  often  had  trouble  in  clearing  my 
camp  of  these  boisterous  musicians.  In  the  first  place,  I  cannot 
give  lawfully  the  Lord's  money  to  the  support  of  such  folly,  and 
to  do  so  might  lead  to  the  annoyance  of  all  servants  of  the  Lord 
who  come  after  me,  by  encouraging  and  perpetuating  the 
practice.  The  custom  also  of  giving  presents  to  headmen, 
minor  chiefs,  etc.,  who  have  no  lawful  claim  to  tribute,  I  have 
opposed,  thus  raising  no  little  amount  of  dissatisfaction.  At 
the  Barotse  I  gave,  with  little  discrimination,  all  I  had  ;  my 
chief  thought  was  to  be  acceptable  to  them,  and  to  be  liked. 
I  succeeded  in  this.  I  fear,  however,  that  it  was  not  a  godly 
success,  or  one  to  God's  glory.  I  have  but  little  with  me,  and 
with  that  little  I  am  bound  to  see  to  the  needs  of  the  men  who 
have  patiently  come  this  long  way  with  me,  and  to  speed 
them  well  on  their  return  to  their  homes. 

"  I  am  in  my  house  at  last.  Plastering  the  walls  has  been  a 
slow  and  tedious  process.  Indeed,  the  house  stood  so  long  with 
its  heavy  thatch  covering,  and  with  walls  of  poles,  through  which 
the  wind  could  play  at  its  pleasure,  that  the  roof  got  somewhat 
twisted,  and  the  thatch  dishevelled.  I  have  tried  to  make  the 
mud  plaster  as  perfect  as  possible,  and  with  a  good  plank  door 
I  shall  hope  to  be  able  to  regulate  the  atmosphere  inside,  which 
I  think  will  help  greatly  towards  a  more  even  condition  of 
health. 

"  Feb.  20th. — Paid  a  visit  to  a  camp  of  Arab  traders,  and  was 
quite  astonished  at  the  number  of  slaves  they  have  already 
bought,  chiefly  full-grown  men  and  women,  all  secured  by  their 
necks  with  heavy  forked  sticks.  While  there  I  saw  the  Arabs 
buy  a  man  for  ten  yards  of  caUco.  They  give,  they  told  me, 
twelve  to  sixteen  yards  for  women  and  young  lads.  Full-grown 
men  were  not  so  valuable,  as  they  are  untameable,  and  liable  to 
o 


210  THE   PEOPLE 

make  their  escape.  After  the  bargain  had  been  completed  three 
stout  Zanzibaris  came  forward,  seized  the  man  they  had  bought, 
threw  him  on  his  face  on  the  ground,  drew  his  hands  behind  his 
back  in  the  most  cruel  way,  and  bound  them  tightly  ;  then, 
with  a  blow  on  the  side  of  the  head,  they  ordered  the  poor 
fellow,  who  never  uttered  a  word  all  this  time,  to  get  up  and  go 
before  them.  He  would  have  to  lie  bound  with  this  cord  until 
a  taming  stick  was  manufactured  to  place  on  his  neck.  The 
weight  of  these  sticks  is  very  great,  but  to  my  mind  the  dis- 
comfort of  their  position  during  the  day,  when  they  are  allowed 
to  sit  up  with  the  end  of  the  stick  resting  on  the  ground  in 
front  of  them,  is  nothing  compared  to  what  they  must  suffer  at 
night.  Then  they  are  made  to  lie  do^vn,  the  stick  being  kept 
fixed,  and  pinning  their  neck  between  its  fork  to  the  ground, 
its  upper  end  fastened  to  the  roof  of  a  hut,  shed,  or  branch  of  a 
tree. 

"  March  nth,  1887, — A  young  man,  who  lived  a  gunshot 
from  my  house,  was  carried  off  to-day  by  a  lion  while  resting 
in  the  shade  behind  his  hut. 

"  March  18th. — At  eight  o'clock  this  evening,  just  in  the 
twilight,  a  leopard,  which  seemed  to  have  followed  my  boys, 
seized  and  carried  off  my  dog  from  the  very  centre  of  my  yard. 

"  March  25th. — On  going  outside  last  night,  about  eleven 
o'clock,  I  encountered  a  large  animal  just  in  front  of  my  door. 
He  seemed  to  be  waiting  his  opportunity  to  pounce  upon  some- 
one, but  I  tumbled  back  indoors  and  disappointed  him.  A  few 
nights  later,  while  sitting  under  the  veranda  of  my  house,  I  saw 
another  of  these  creatures  coming  straight  for  my  cottage, 
evidently  attracted  by  the  goats.  Stepping  indoors,  and 
picking  up  my  gun,  which  stood  loaded  in  a  corner,  I  fired  at 
him,  and  the  ball  passed  through  his  heart.  I  found  it  was  a 
full-grown  hyena,  of  the  man-eating  sort.  My  boys  and  the 
neighbours  had  a  dance  round  it  the  next  day.  At  this  time  of 
the  year  the  grass  is  so  long  that  these  animals  are  emboldened 
to  go  round  the  villages  and  prey  upon  the  people. 

"  March  26th. — Last  night  my  boy  Johnny  died.  He  had 
been  ill  for  a  long  time  with  diarrhoea,  brought  on  by  eating 
maize  corn.  After  a  short  prayer  and  a  few  words  with  the  rest 
of  the  boys,  we  buried  him  in  the  garden.  Poor  little  lad,  he 
was  of  an  exceedingly  sweet  and  tender  disposition.  Among  the 
rest  he  was  pre-eminently  my  boy.    Nothing,  however,  that  I 


THE   PEOPLE  211 

could  possibl}'^  do  or  say  could  control  his  appetite  for  green 
corn.  I  whipped  him  and  even  tied  his  hands  with  cords,  but 
as  soon  as  he  was  released,  or  found  the  slightest  opportunity, 
he  was  off  to  the  field  eating  the  corn  green  and  unroasted.  My 
first  acquaintance  with  him  was  in  the  Lunda  country.  Kasoma 
bought  him  there,  unknown  to  me.  During  the  long,  tiring 
march  before  we  reached  the  Lualaba  River,  this  little  lad 
completely  broke  down  ;  and  as  all  the  men  were  heavily 
burdened,  only  two  courses  were  open  to  us — either  to  leave 
him  by  the  roadside,  or  allow  him  to  ride  my  ox.  Accordingly 
he  was  carried  on  ox-back  for  several  days,  until  he  recovered 
somewhat.  When  Kasoma  left  for  Bihe  I  was  not  willing  to 
part  with  Johnny,  so  he  left  him  with  me.  Johnny  was  always 
an  example  to  the  other  children,  and  now  all  feel  very  much 
the  death  of  their  little  playmate,  and  I  hope  the  event  will  be 
blessed  to  them. 

"  To-day  I  had  an  opportunity  of  sending  letters  to  the  coast. 
As  can  well  be  understood,  it  is  easier  to  send  letters  from  a 
place  like  this  than  to  receive  them.  All  native  traders  go  to 
the  coast,  but  few  from  the  coast  come  here  ;  and  those  who  do 
are  often  uncertain  as  to  their  destination  when  leaving  their 
homes.  My  mind  naturally  follows  Cinyama  and  the  little 
party,  and  sometimes  I  ponder  the  result  of  his  journey  with  a 
measure  of  anxiety.  When  I  left  Natal  alone  five  years  ago,  I 
never  for  a  moment  dreamed  that  it  would  be  for  so  long  a  time 
as  this,  yet  in  looking  back  it  does  seem  very  short  indeed  ; 
and  considering  the  wonderful  goodness  of  the  Lord  to  me,  1 
have  little  reason  to  doubt  as  to  the  future.  If  Cinyama  returns 
alone  it  ^\^ll  be  well.  If  an  English  fellow-labourer  should  come 
with  him  I  shall  be  very  thankful.  Meanwhile  the  Lord  wonder- 
fully makes  up  to  me  for  all  I  lose  in  being  without  the 
immediate  fellowship  of  brethren  in  Christ.  My  days  are  spent, 
I  may  say,  in  unbroken  quietness  of  mind  and  peace  within. 
Although  I  have  joy,  yet  I  do  not  say  I  am  always  rejoicing. 
There  is  much  to  depress  me  in  such  a  field  as  this.  Heathendom 
in  all  its  nakedness,  cruelty,  and  depravity  is  far  from  being 
exhilarating  in  its  effect ;  but  yet,  in  comparison,  the  con- 
dition of  these  people  is  happy  when  placed  alongside  the  state 
of  the  unsaved  in  home  lands.  How  dark  and  hideous  is  the 
ignorance  around  one  here  !  but  how  guilty  the  ignorance  of 
British  sinners  who  close  and  harden  their  hearts  against  the 


212  THE  PEOPLE 

light,  and  strengthen  themselves  with  false  hopes  !  Here  also 
they  are  never  at  rest,  seeking  after  vain  hopes  and  refuges  of 
lies. 

"  On  behalf  of  a  caravan  about  to  start  for  Bihe,  Msidi  and 
his  fetish  priests  have  been  at  work  a  whole  month,  preparing 
charms,  etc.  The  process  in  such  a  case  is  first  to  divine  as 
to  the  dangers  that  await  them  ;  then  to  propitiate  with  the 
appointed  sacrifices  to  forefathers  (in  this  case  two  goats  were 
killed)  ;  afterwards  to  prepare  the  charms  necessary,  either  as 
antidotes  against  evil  or  to  secure  good.  The  noma,  or  fetish 
spear  to  be  carried  in  front  of  the  caravan,  with  charms  secured 
to  it,  was  thus  prepared  :  the  roots  of  a  sweet  herb  were  tied 
round  the  blade  ;  then  a  few  bent  splinters  of  wood  were  tied 
on,  like  the  feathers  of  a  shuttlecock.  In  the  cage  thus  formed 
were  placed  a  piece  of  human  skin,  little  bits  of  the  claws  of  a 
lion,  leopard,  etc.,  with  food,  beer  and  medical  roots,  thus 
securing,  respectively,  power  over  their  enemies,  safety  from 
the  paws  of  fierce  animals,  food  and  drink,  and,  finally,  health. 
A  cloth  was  sewn  over  all,  and  finally  the  king  spat  on  it  and 
blessed  it.  After  all  these  performances  they  will  set  out  \vith 
light  hearts,  each  man  marked  with  sacred  chalk.  Such  is  the 
'  fool '  in  all  lands  ;   he  finds  a  refuge  in  his  own  imaginations. 

'''April  1st,  1887. — Three  Bihe  caravans  arrived  here  this 
morning.  They  have  brought  no  letters,  but  report  American 
missionaries  in  Bihe.  My  first  impulse  was  to  bemoan  the 
lack  of  pity  on  the  part  of  my  American  brethren,  in  that  they 
did  not  seek  this  opportunity  of  sending  in  letters.  The  matter, 
however,  is  surely  in  higher  hands  ;  and  when  I  looked  at  much 
work  that,  months  ago,  I  had  laid  out  to  be  done,  scarce  com- 
menced, I  felt  ashamed  of  my  impatience.  The  Lord,  I  know, 
does  not  forget  me  for  one  moment  but  chooses  His  own  ways 
and  means,  not  in  order  to  disappoint  our  desires,  but  to  exceed 
them. 

"  At  present  the  languages  are  occupying  most  of  my  time. 
My  chief  interruptions  are  caused  by  having  to  go  off  occasion- 
ally to  the  bush  to  procure  a  supply  of  meat,  which  I  dry  and 
use,  not  so  much  as  food,  but  to  flavour  my  maize  or  millet 
corn  porridge,  which  is  my  staple  article  of  food  ;  but  as  this 
dried  meat  docs  not  keep  very  long,  I  have  to  exchange  large 
quantities  of  it  with  the  natives  for  corn. 

"  Formerly  my  shooting  greatly  distressed  me,  as  I  wounded 


THE   PEOPLE  213 

many  animals  without  killing  them.  Now,  however,  I  believe 
in  answer  to  prayer,  I  seldom  fail  to  secure  the  animal  I  aim  at. 
This  searching  for  game  takes  up  four  or  five  days  every  three 
months.  I  might  ere  this  have  taught  Dick,  my  lad,  to  shoot, 
and  have  given  him  this  occupation,  but  I  fear  his  being  carried 
away  with  the  excitement  of  hunting,  and  becoming  a  regular 
hunter — an  occupation  most  unsettling  and  unprofitable. 

"  The  field  of  corn  and  beans  which  my  boys  have  cultivated 
has  borne  remarkably  well,  but  I  fear  comparatively  little  of 
the  crop  will  be  secured,  thieves  and  wild  pigs  having  the  larger 
share.  There  is  no  way  of  checking  the  thieves  but  by  catching 
and  cruelly  beating  them.  Of  course,  I  will  not  hear  of  this 
being  done,  but,  on  the  contrary,  I  have  been  moved  to  give  a 
meal  of  food  at  my  house  to  the  poor  hungry  creatures  caught 
stealing.  So  insensible,  however,  are  they  to  mere  rebuke,  or 
even  to  kind  treatment,  that  they  will  go  off  quietly,  and  again 
begin  filling  their  baskets  with  half-ripe  corn  so  soon  as  they 
think  they  are  not  observed. 

"  May  5th,  1887. — Returned  to-day  from  a  three  weeks' 
outing  which  I  thought  would  brace  me  up  a  bit  after  the  past 
months  of  rain  and  consequent  confinement.  I  took  the  precau- 
tion to  have  a  native  hunter  with  me  this  time  to  save  myself 
from  the  extra  toil  of  hunting  for  meat.  The  villages,  by  the 
way,  do  not  grudge  giving  meal  and  other  food,  in  fact  it  is  a 
recognised  institution  here  that  strangers  and  travellers  be 
entertained  free  of  charge,  so  I  purposely  avoid,  on  all  such 
trips,  taking  anything  with  me  in  the  way  of  barterable  goods. 

"  The  first  villages  we  reached  were  those  of  Mirambo,  a 
little  way  beyond  Kagoma's  on  the  Lukuruwe  River.  We 
rested  there  one  day,  and  then  went  down  the  river,  making 
for  a  company  of  Ba-na-lunda  villages.  The  long  grass  tired 
me  out,  so  we  went  into  camp  about  midday,  sending  a 
hunter  on. 

"  At  this  spot  we  had  quite  a  remarkable  adventure  with  a 
lion,  which  but  for  the  protecting  care  of  God  would  have  ended 
more  seriously.  All  night  we  were  kept  awake  more  or  less  by 
three  lions  serenading  us,  and  the  lads  had  enough  to  do  to  keep 
their  bivouac  fires  burning.  I,  however,  got  a  good  night's 
rest.  Next  morning  when  passing  through  a  clump  of  long  reedy 
grass  I  heard  distinctly  in  front  the  low  angry  growl  of  a  lion. 
The  man  who  was  before  me  stopped,  saying  it  was  a  buffalo, 


214  THE   PEOPLE 

and  asked  for  my  gun  that  he  might  shoot  it.  I  urged  him  to 
push  on,  and  tried  to  prevent  the  three  boys  from  stopping, 
but  it  was  too  late  to  avoid  the  brute's  charge.  He  made 
straight  at  the  hindmost  lad,  who  was  carrying  my  mat  and 
blanket.  I  ran  back  and  succeeded  in  intercepting  him,  so 
that  in  his  spring  he  fell  short  a  few  feet  from  his  intended 
victim,  and  before  my  very  face,  too  near  indeed  to  allow  me 
time  to  use  my  rifle.  The  man  and  the  three  lads  dropped 
their  loads,  and  were  off  like  deer,  leaving  me  and  my  royal 
friend  alone  in  the  reed  thicket  face  to  face.  For  a  moment  it 
was  a  question  what  the  next  scene  would  be.  He  was  raging 
fiercely,  and  would  fain  have  sprung  on  me,  but  seemed  to  lack 
the  nerve.  Holding  him  hard  with  my  eyes,  and  slowly 
cocking  my  rifle,  I  lifted  it  to  my  shoulder  for  a  steady  aim, 
when  he  suddenly  gave  in,  his  huge  tail  dropped,  and  drawing 
his  teeth  under  his  lips  he  made  off.  I  sprang  after  him,  hoping 
to  get  a  shot  at  safer  range,  but  the  grass  was  so  dense  that  I 
could  not  sight  him  again  ;  so  I  started  in  search  of  my  com- 
panions. I  overtook  Dick  several  hundred  yards  on  by  the 
river's  brink,  and  then  the  others,  but  not  one  would  return  for 
his  load,  so  complete  was  their  scare,  although  I  assured  them 
that  the  lion  had  gone  clean  away.  That,  hoAvever,  was  no 
assurance  to  them  that  his  wife  or  some  of  his  relatives  might 
not  be  hanging  about  the  same  lair.  Shortly  after  we  met  some 
men  returning  from  their  fishing  grounds,  who  were  willing  for  a 
small  consideration  to  return  for  the  loads  with  my  brave  crew. 

"  The  lad  whose  life  I  thus  saved  belongs  to  Bihe,  and  I 
overheard  a  young  Bihean  say  to  his  fellows,  he  would  '  go  any- 
where with  such  a  white  man,  who  would  throw  his  ovm  body 
between  a  lion  and  a  black  lad  of  no  account.'  The  young  man 
who  said  this,  is  a  nephew  of  the  chief  Kapoko,  who  told  the 
carriers  I  had  engaged  at  his  village  two  years  ago,  not  to  go 
with  this  white  man,  as  he  was  an  Englishman,  and  would  carry 
them  all  off  to  the  other  side  of  the  continent  and  enslave  them, 
the  result  of  which  advice  was.  that  most  of  them  left  us. 

"  Two  weary  days'  tramp  across  the  flat  brought  me  again  to 
my  comfortable  house.  On  reaching  the  capital  I  met  Msidi. 
He  received  me  very  warmly,  and  seeing  I  was  very  tired,  sent 
one  of  his  wives  to  cook  a  dish  of  rice  and  honey  for  me.  It  was 
dark  ere  I  reached  my  house.  I  found  that  in  my  absence 
Susi's  father  had  died.    He  was  a  mulatto  from  Loanda  and 


THE   PEOPLE  215 

came  here  seeking  employment  from  Msidi  as  Secretary.  He 
took  part  in  the  robbery  of  my  goods  at  Nana  Kandundu.  Two 
months  ago  he  took  ill,  and  being  in  a  wretched  condition  of 
poverty,  etc.,  I  sent  and  brought  him  to  my  village,  when  he 
recovered  somewhat,  but  in  my  absence  had  a  relapse  and  died. 
Before  I  left  I  pressed  upon  him  for  several  evenings  '  repent- 
ance toward  God  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.' 

"  Msidi  paid  me  a  visit  shortly  after  my  return,  and  was 
most  agreeable  ;  indeed,  he  is  a  thorough  gentleman.  The 
other  day  he  told  one  of  his  courtiers  that  he  had  one  true 
friend,  and  that  was  Monare,  for  in  his  heart  he  did  not  find 
one  single  suspicion  of  me  ;  and,  strange  to  say,  I  feel  very  much 
the  same  towards  him.  I  have  no  suspicion  of  his  friendship  ; 
he  most  carefully  avoids  asking  anything  of  me,  and  all  his 
family  do  the  same. 

"  Matters  have  been  settled  between  Bihe  and  this  country, 
and  the  'road  '  is  virtually  open  again.  Msidi's  two  sons  have 
not  returned  yet,  but  they  were  awaiting  the  arrival  of  goods 
from  the  coast,  and  will  come  shortly.  Two  large  caravans 
have  arrived  for  trade,  bringing  no  letters,  nor  any  news  for  me, 
except  that  the  American  missionaries  are  re-established  in 
Bihe.  I  suppose  they  did  not  know  of  the  departure  of  these 
two  caravans.  I  am  expecting  a  large  budget  when  it  does 
come.    My  last  home-letter  dates  are  all  in  1885." 


CHAPTER  XV 

ANXIETIES,    PRAYERS    AND    DELIVERANCES 

MAY  Sth,  1887.— Yesterday  I  had  another  child 
brought  to  me.  The  poor  thing  belonged  to  a  black- 
smith here,  who  some  time  ago  sold  its  mother  for 
com  to  the  king's  executioner.  The  com  was  not  enough  to 
cover  the  price  of  the  child,  so  he  kept  it  out  of  the  bargain. 
The  fact  was,  the  '  hangman  '  did  not  ^nsh  a  slave  with  a  baby 
on  her  back,  so  would  not  buy  the  child,  though  an  extra 
basket  of  corn  would  have  sufficed.  The  blacksmith,  who 
has  no  wife,  found  he  could  do  nothing  with  this  baby,  and 
instead  of  knocking  it  on  the  head,  as  the  custom  here  is — for 
who  would  buy  so  young  a  thing  ? — he  sent  to  me,  asking  me 
to  give  a  goat  for  him.  I  could  not  help  myself  in  the  matter, 
so  sent  a  young  goat  in  exchange.  Poor  little  boy  (we  mil  call 
him  WilUe),  he  had  been  deceived,  for  they  said  they  were 
taking  him  to  his  mother,  and  he  cried  long  and  bitterly, 
'  N"twala  ko  mama  '  ('  Take  me  to  mother  ').  In  Luba  the 
word  for  mother  is  exactly  like  our  '  mama,'  the  as  being  very 
broad  and  emphatic.  He  is  a  plump,  liealthy  little  chap,  with 
a  fine-shaped  head,  awfully  afraid  of  me  as  yet.  I  shan't  give 
him  up  to  his  mother  where  she  now  is,  but  I  ■will  do  so  if  I  can 
redeem  her. 

"  The  question  of  these  children  harasses  me  a  good  deal, 
and  often  I  don't  know  what  to  do.  Little  children  here  have 
really  no  market  value,  and  a  woman  burdened  ^^^th  a  child  is 
a  less  desirable  article  of  purchase  than  one  -with  hands  and 
shoulders  free.  The  raiding  parties  kill  off  all  small  children 
found  among  their  captives.  The  body  of  a  fine  little  boy 
was  picked  up  only  a  few  days  ago  beside  the  Arab  camp. 
The  o-^Tier  had  doubtless  taken  him  the  round  of  all  likely 
purchasers,  probably  including  me  among  the  number,  and 
then  thrust  a  spear  through  him  as  a  useless  burden  on 
his   hands.      Another   little    boy,   whom    I    refused   to    take 

216 


ANXIETIES,  PRAYERS  217 

last  year,  was  deliberately  starved  and  thrown  out  to  the 
wolves. 

"  A  young  man  named  Cilombo  had  charge  of  a  field  close 

by  my  cottage.  Being  interested  in  meetings  held  at  my 
place,  he  moved  his  hut  from  the  far  to  the  near  side  of  the 
field.  His  wife  was  a  slave  woman,  and  had  a  little  child  to 
whom  I  had  taken  quite  a  fancy  ;  and  in  passing  my  hut  on 
the  way  to  the  -villages  I  used  often  to  take  the  child  in  my 
arms  and  spend  a  few  minutes  in  playing  with  it.  During  my 
absence  on  one  occasion  the  mistress  of  Cilombo's  wife  carried 
out  a  threat  she  had  made  long  before,  and  sold  her  with  her 
child.  The  husband  was  powerless  to  intervene  on  behalf  of 
either.  One  of  a  company  of  traders  bought  the  woman,  and 
started  at  once  for  Bihe.  Another  man,  however,  hearing  that 
this  woman  had  been  sold,  wished  to  exchange  for  her  a  younger 
slave,  who  was  perhaps  of  more  value,  though  less  muscular, 
as  he  wanted  an  able-bodied  woman  to  cultivate  his  fields. 
The  Bihe  trader  was  willing  to  make  the  exchange,  but  re- 
minded the  man  that  he  had  brought  nothing  for  the  child. 
The  latter  at  once  said  that  he  did  not  want  the  child  ;  but 
as  it  was  so  young,  he  thought  it  ought  to  be  included  with 
the  mother  in  his  bargain.  The  men  were  unable  to  come  to 
terms  ;  so,  to  prevent  more  ado,  the  child  was  taken  from  the 
mother's  arms,  its  head  was  dashed  against  a  tree,  and  it  was 
thrown  into  the  river.  Thus  the  difficulty  was  got  over,  and 
the  women  were  exchanged  !  The  poor  mother's  grief  at  the 
loss  of  her  child  may  be  imagined.  Had  I  known  the  peril 
that  this  little  one  was  in  I  certainly  should  have  secured  it 
in  some  way  or  other. 

"  But  to  know  where  and  when  I  ought  to  draw  the  Une 
baffles  me.  I  cannot  allow  myself  to  be  involved  in  slave 
buying ;  that  is  clear.  WTiat  are  the  points  of  difference 
between  buying  and  redeeming  ?  If  it  is  lawful  to  buy,  it 
must  be  equally  lawful  to  sell.  One  can  redeem  a  grown-up 
person  and  let  him  go,  but  this  cannot  be  done  with  a  child 
whose  parents  are  enslaved  ;  the  owner  of  the  mother  might 
take  him  at  once  and  sell  him  again.  Of  course,  alone,  I  cannot 
look  after  more  than  a  very  few,  and  that  settles  the  question 
so  far.  The  little  girl  Chinze,  whom  I  took  last  year  from  a 
Bihean,  when  unable  to  travel  because  of  boils  on  her  feet,  is 
again  covered  with  a  loathsome  disease  peculiar  to  tfiis  country, 


218  ANXIETIES,  PRAYERS 

called  monona,  and  has  to  be  kept  entirely  separate.  Among 
the  natives  this  disease  generally  runs  from  two  to  five  years. 
With  a  free  use  of  sulphur  internally  and  caustic  externally, 
I  hope  to  cure  her  soon. 

"  The  foUoAving  is  the  story  of  two  little  girls  that  were 
added  to  my  family:  One  year,  when  Msidi's  warriors  w^ere 
ransacking  the  district  around  Katapena,  Lubaland,  they 
surprised  and  carried  off  a  number  of  children  who  were 
playing  and  bathing  in  a  pool  near  their  village.  Among  them 
were  two  girls,  Mwcpo  and  Delunga,  who  had  been  fast  friends 
and  constant  playmates  ;  but  the  rough  hands  of  INIsidi's 
soldiers  now  separated  them,  and  they  were  carried  off  in 
different  directions.  Three  years  after,  I  happened  to  be 
sitting  in  INIsidi's  yard  talking  with  him,  when  a  company  of 
slaves  were  brought  in.  They  were  the  belongings  of  someone 
who  had  recently  died,  and  were  brought  to  Msidi  to  be  dis- 
tributed among  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  man.  The 
youngest  of  the  slaves,  a  little  girl  of  nine  years  of  age,  was 
suffering  from  painful  ulcers  on  the  soles  of  her  feet.  After 
giving  away  the  healthy  ones,  Msidi  turned  and  asked  if  I 
could  do  anything  with  this  suffering  child  ;  so  I  took  her  up 
to  my  cottage,  dressed  her  sores,  and  after  a  little  care  and 
nursing  she  recovered. 

"  A  few  months  later  I  happened  again  to  be  sitting  beside 
Msidi,  when  a  little  girl  entered  the  yard  and  threw  herself 
down  at  some  distance  from  the  chief's  feet,  rubbing  dust  on 
her  forehead  and  arms.  Msidi  told  her  to  look  up,  and  asked 
where  she  came  from  and  what  did  she  want.  She  said  that 
she  had  run  away  from  her  mistress  because  she  had  been 
severely  beaten  the  day  before.  It  seems  that  she  had  travelled 
all  night  from  the  Lunsala,  six  or  eight  miles  down  tlic  Bunkeya. 
Some  of  Msidi's  breakfast  was  in  a  dish  ;  this  I  handed  in  pity 
to  the  poor  thing,  and  in  a  short  time  I  rose  up  and  left.  Upon 
looking  back,  I  saw  the  little  girl  folloAving  me,  in  charge  of 
one  of  Msidi's  young  men  who  told  me  that  Msidi  had  sent  the 
child  after  me,  saying  that  if  she  was  afraid  of  being  beaten  she 
had  better  follow  the  white  man.  So  on  she  came  with  me  to 
my  cottage.  I  handed  her  over  to  the  care  of  the  other  little 
girl,  Mwepo,  when,  to  my  astonishment,  they  flew  into  each 
other's  arms,  embracing  one  another  and  weeping.  The  two 
Luba  free-born  children  had  met  again  in  mv  cottage  after 


AND   DELIVERANCES  219 

each  had  passed  through  her  own  three  years  of  unmixed 
sorrow  and  hardship. 

"  So  much  for  family  matters  and  perplexities.  Dick  is  in 
everything  my  good  man  '  Friday.'  Susi,  the  other  lad,  is 
useful  in  taking  messages,  medicines,  etc.,  but  is  very  handless 
and  of  little  use  about  the  house.  My  other  little  one,  Segunda, 
is  getting  on  well ;  it  took  about  six  months  to  get  him  out  of 
the  decline  he  had  fallen  into  through  neglect  and  bad  food. 

"  My  o\\Ti  health  keeps  excellent ;  ever  since  moving  into 
my  '  house  '  I  have  not  had  a  single  day's  illness  of  any  kind, 
and  nearly  a  year  has  passed  since  I  touched  quinine  or  any 
other  home  medicines,  although  I  have  occasionally  used  the 
herbs  and  medicinal  berries  of  this  country.  In  fact,  I  am 
quite  a  naturalised  African.  The  heat  of  the  sun  in  no  way 
affects  my  head  as  it  used  to  do.  I  prefer  wearing  a  light  grass 
hat,  of  native  manufacture,  to  my  heavy  pith-helmet,  which  is 
shaken  out  of  its  dust  only  on  state  occasions.  My  joints,  how- 
ever, have  been  stiffened  a  good  deal  with  rheumatism  this 
season,  which  has  been  an  exceptionally  wet  one  ;  not  that 
my  house  is  at  all  damp,  but  after  weeks  of  rain  the  very 
atmosphere  becomes  saturated.  , 

"  Dick  and  Susi  are  great  helps  to  me.  They  thoroughly 
enter  into  sympathy  with  the  work,  and  though  neither 
ventures  to  talk  much  to  others,  they  are  not  slow  in  going 
about  and  inviting  the  people  to  come  to  my  house  on  the 
Lord's-day  morning.  I  speak  chiefly  in  Umbundu,  conse- 
quently those  who  come  are  for  the  most  part  natives  of  Bihe  ; 
many  besides  understand  Umbundu,  but  do  not  come  so  freely 
to  my  house.  The  variety  of  excuses  made,  and  obstacles  that 
come  in  the  way,  are  marvellous.  If  a  man  is  sick,  it  is  sure 
to  be  on  the  Sunday  ;  if  a  slave  runs  off,  it  is  certain  to  be  on 
a  Saturday  or  Sunday  ;  and  the  most  I  have  gathered  at  one 
time  is  about  a  dozen  men.  To-day  I  went  off  to  a  village 
where  Umbundu  is  the  chief  language  spoken,  the  people 
being  mixed.  I  planned  to  be  there  by  midday,  so  as  to  find 
them  resting  during  the  heat  of  the  day,  but  I  was  disappointed  ; 
they  had  pressing  business  of  their  own  on,  so  I  returned.  You 
see  I  have  need  of  patience  here,  and  of  grace  also,  that  '  I 
be  not  weary,  though  in  weariness  oft.' 

"  I  have  been  much  cheered  by  a  blacksmith  who  was  at 
one  of  my  Sunday  morning  meetings,  and  who  responded  in 


220  ANXIETIES,  PRAYERS 

a  remarkable  way  to  what  was  said.  He  declared  before  all 
the  rest  that  he  had  received  new  light  that  day.  With  an 
honest  expression,  and  in  a  sincere  manner,  he  repeated  after- 
wards, '  Is  it  so  ?  Is  it  so  ?  Is  that  what  God  is  ?  Is  that  the 
nature  of  God's  love  ?  '  This  was  the  Sunday  before  I  left  for 
the  three  weeks'  tour.  On  returning,  my  feet  were  so  sore  and 
blistered  that  on  nearing  the  capital  I  sent  on  for  my  hammock, 
hoping  someone  about  would  volunteer  to  carry  me.  The 
blacksmith  heard  of  the  opportunity,  and  did  not  lose  it.  He 
met  me  with  four  other  volunteers,  and  taking  hold  of  the  pole 
behind,  the  heaviest  end,  he  would  let  no  one  change  with  him, 
and  left,  when  my  door  was  reached,  with  a  hearty  '  Good 
night.'  It  was  for  no  present  or  pay  that  he  thus  gave  his 
cheerful  aid.     This  act  was  like  a  fresh,  cool  breeze  to  one. 

"  May  2^rd. — Yesterday  was  Sunday,  when  we  had  a  most 
profitable  day.  I  had  quite  a  houseful  of  grown  men  at  the 
morning  service,  which  was  continued  until  midday.  Our 
subject  was,  '  Repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  toward  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  I  don't  think  I  ever  had  a  meeting  at 
which  the  people  showed  less  difficulty  in  understanding,  and 
when  in  every  way  I  had  more  liberty  in  using  the  Umbundu 
language. 

"  This  morning  Dick  got  an  unmistakable  rebuke.  Yester- 
day, someone  in  the  village  happened  to  remark  that  there  was 
little  chance  of  Cinyama  being  here  next  month  ;  that  he  had 
just  come  from  Bihe,  and  knew  how  matters  stood.  Thought- 
fully considering  our  empty  corn  bin,  and  that  we  had  no  more 
beads  or  cloth  to  buy  with,  Dick  remarked,  '  If  Cinyama  does 
not  come  next  month  we  shall  die  of  hunger.'  I  checked  him 
at  once,  and  reminded  him  that  they  had  not  a  day's  hunger 
during  all  the  months  gone  by,  when  many  people  of  the 
country  had  actually  perished  from  starvation.  (The  past 
season  was  a  very  hard  one  for  the  natives.)  That  day  a  drink- 
ing cup  had  been  stolen  from  my  boy  when  on  the  way  to  draw 
water,  and  the  king  had  sent  to  kill  the  chief.  I  ran  down  to 
prevent  this,  and  obtained  Msidi's  consent  to  his  being  put  in 
chains  for  a  few  days  instead.  When  I  entered  the  king's 
house  and  greeted  him  he  drew  out  from  behind  him  a  roll  of 
eight  yards  of  calico  and  gave  it  to  me,  saying,  that  perhaps  I 
was  in  need  of  it  to  buy  corn,  as  the  crops  were  ripe.  Where 
now  were  Dick's  doubts  ?    I  believe  that  this  cahco  was  given 


AND  DELIVERANCES  221 

especially  for  Dick's  sake.  He  had  mentioned  the  matter  of 
food  in  prayer  last  night.  I  had  not  mentioned  it ;  indeed,  it  is 
seldom  in  my  thoughts,  much  less  in  my  prayers.  And  here  the 
answer  comes  the  very  next  day,  at  early  morning — calico  to 
buy  corn  !  Msidi  had  never  given  me  anything  in  that  way 
before,  except  perhaps  a  basket  of  corn  or  rice. 

"  Not  only  to  the  boys,  but  to  mj^self,  this  time  of  waiting 
upon  God  for  our  daily  need  has  been  greatly  blessed  ;  indeed, 
it  is  only  then  that  one  can  realise  how  truly  this  desert  country 
might,  in  the  experience  of  faith,  become  as  a  well-watered 
plain,  and  what  seems  only  a  way  of  discomfort  and  poverty 
prove  a  path  dropping  with  fatness. 

"  May  27th. — I  have  heard  to-day  of  the  death  of  Mokobe 
at  Kalolo.  I  visited  his  town  last  year,  and  was  very  well 
received.  About  two  months  ago  or  more  he  sent  a  message  to 
me,  asking  me  to  repeat  my  visit.  I  had  intended  doing  so 
very  soon,  and  now  hear  of  his  death.  Alas,  for  the  stiffness 
of  my  neck,  and  my  unwilling  feet !  It  was  the  rain  that  pre- 
vented me,  or  I  might  have  gone  when  his  message  came. 
Surely  I  have  not  yet  learned  to  endure  hardness  for  the  Gospel's 
sake.  But  there  is  scarcely  a  place  I  have  been  to  that  messages 
have  not  followed  to  repeat  my  visit.  May  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  send  help  here  soon,  is  my  heart's  prayer. 

"  About  this  time  six  years  ago  I  was  preparing  to  make  fare- 
well visits.  It  is  not  a  long  time,  but  it  is  long  to  be  away  from 
all  those  whom  the  affections  hold  as  near  and  beloved  in  this 
life.  It  is  a  long  time  to  be  a  stranger  on  the  earth,  without  a 
companion  ;  yet,  strange  to  say,  it  is  only  when  I  sit  down 
and  think  of  it  that  I  feel  it  at  all ;  as  a  rule  the  days  go  by 
without  a  shadow  of  loneliness.  The  good  Lord  has  wonder- 
fully made  up  to  me  for  the  lack  of  Christian  fellowship  by 
giving  me  Dick  and  Susi ;  and  the  other  three  little  black  faces 
keep  alive  somewhat  the  dear  old  home  memories  of  nursery 
days  and  of  love  for  love. 

"  June  2Qth,  1887. — Returned  to-day  from  a  trip  to  the 
Lukuruwe,  and  found  a  fresh  caravan  had  arrived  from  Bihe. 
I  hear  that  someone  has  come  to  Bihe  en  route  for  the  Garen- 
ganze,  intending  to  join  me.  May  the  good  Lord  speed  him. 
It  is  no  vain  thing  to  wait  upon  God. 

"  July  lUh,  1887. — To-day  a  son  of  the  great  Kazembe,  of 
Lake  Mweru,  an  old  friend  of  Dr.  Livingstone's,  was  executed. 


222  ANXIETIES,  PRAYERS 

This  man,  a  tall,  handsome  fellow,  came  to  Msidi's  town  as  a 
refugee  after  the  break  up  of  his  father's  power.  Conspiracies 
against  him  in  his  ovra  country  compelled  him  to  seek  a  friend 
in  his  father's  old  enemy.  He,  however,  acted  very  unwisely 
when  staying  with  Msidi,  who  tested  his  fidelity  by  employing 
him  in  subordinate  positions.  Young  Kazembe  would  not 
submit  to  such  tests,  seeing  he  himself  was  a  king's  son,  and  he 
preferred  to  remain  idle  at  the  capital.  But  his  head  was 
demanded  by  a  daughter  of  Msidi  as  a  marriage  dowry  on  the 
occasion  of  her  marriage  to  the  brother  of  a  former  husband 
of  hers  who  had  been  killed  in  a  war  against  Kazembe.  She  had 
done  all  in  her  power  to  bring  him  into  trouble,  and  at  last  he 
gave  her  an  opportunity  of  speaking  unguardedly,  in  a  drunken 
fit,  in  the  presence  of  Msidi,  and  impUcating  himself  in  the 
death  of  one  of  Msidi's  favourite  generals.  He  was  withal  so 
defiant  to  Msidi,  that  the  king  saw  the  wisdom  of  handing  him 
over  to  his  daughter.  The  condemned  man  was  allowed  to 
return  to  his  hut  and  prepare  himself,  choosing  his  own  time 
to  hand  himself  over  to  the  executioners.  I  sat  with  him  out- 
side his  hut  door  while  his  wives  and  young  men  shaved  his 
head  and  beard,  trimmed  his  finger  and  toe  nails,  and  washed- 
his  body  and  limbs,  anointing  him  with  scented  palm  oil.  He 
sat  through  it  all  without  moving  a  muscle,  or  showing  the 
slightest  concern.  I  spoke  to  him  repeatedly,  and  my  last 
words  were,  '  Whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  saved.'  The  four  executioners  were  sitting  meanwhile 
in  a  row.  When  I  rose  and  shook  hands  for  the  last  time, 
Kazembe  rose  from  his  seat,  and  as  I  left  him  he  quietly 
walked  over  to  the  executioners  and  gave  himself  up.  They 
threw  him  roughly  on  the  ground,  bound  him  like  a  pig  to  an 
extra  long  pole — as  Kazembe  stood  considerably  over  six  feet 
in  height — and  with  groans  and  animal  grunts  they  carried  him 
off  to  the  bush  where  they  struck  his  head  off  as  he  lay  fastened 
to  the  pole.  I  had  hardly  reached  my  house  ere  the  doleful 
procession  of  executioners  passed  by  on  their  way  to  Kangofu, 
%vith  Kazembc's  head  on  a  pike,  carrying  it  to  the  offended 
queen. 

''August  9th,  1887. — I  had  long  been  planning  to  revisit  the 
town  of  Kalolo,  where  the  people  were  so  afraid  of  me  as  to 
go  off  and  sleep  in  their  fields  all  night.  This  time  I  carried 
nothing  but  my  gun  and  blanket,  intending  to  give  the  people 


AND   DELIVERANCES  223 

the  benefit  of  entertaining  me  to  their  hearts'  content.  I  went 
a  different  road  to  the  one  previously  taken,  and  called  at  the 
town  of  Likoko,  a  brother  of  Msidi.  In  doing  so  I  had  to  pass 
the  town  of  Kapapa,  Msidi's  chief  wife.  In  going  along  a  little 
path  leading  up  to  her  town,  I  was  astonished  to  see  close  by 
the  gateway  what  I  at  first  thought  was  a  young  man  buried  in 
the  ground  up  to  his  neck,  a  mode  of  punishment  common  in 
these  parts,  as  prisons  and  handcuffs  are  unknown,  but  to  my 
horror  I  found  it  to  be  the  head  of  a  young  man,  freshly  decapi- 
tated, placed  thus  on  the  path  as  a  warning  to  all  evildoers. 
The  headless  trunk  was  lying  a  few  yards  away,  by  the  side  of 
the  road.  At  once  I  suspected  that  Msidi  was  at  Kapapa's 
to^vn.  I  found  that  he  had  arrived  there  very  early  in  the 
morning,  and  had  caught  the  young  man  skulking.  It  seems 
that  Msidi  had  ordered  him  some  days  before  to  join  a  war 
party  that  had  already  gone  out,  and  as  it  was  his  third  or 
fourth  offence  Msidi  ordered  his  immediate  execution. 

"  After  formally  saluting  the  king,  I  went  on  to  Likoko's 
town,  where  I  slept  for  the  night,  and  we  were  entertained  with 
their  best.  We  reached  Kalolo  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day. 
The  people  there  were  hearty  indeed  in  their  greeting,  and, 
instead  of  bringing  me  food  uncooked  as  before,  they  all  took 
to  cooking,  so  delighted  were  they  to  observe  that,  on  my  last 
visit,  I  ate  their  native  food,  and  had  no  supernatural  ways  of 
existing.  About  five  in  the  afternoon  a  woman  came  with  a 
dish  of  thick  porridge,  and  small  pot  of  omhelela,  or  relish, 
which  is  often  made  of  cooked  beans  or  other  things  calculated 
to  give  the  food  a  taste.  In  a  short  time  another  came  laden 
in  the  same  way,  and  then  another,  until  for  about  half  an  hour 
there  was  a  constant  stream  of  women  bringing  to  my  hut 
dishes  of  cooked  food.  The  whole  village  had  brought  me  their 
own  suppers,  and  all  were  assembled  in  the  yard  outside, 
evidently  intending  to  partake  of  my  feast.  I  at  once  fell  into 
their  little  plan,  called  in  my  own  boys,  and  told  them  to  carry 
the  food  out  and  lay  it  before  the  people,  so  that  I  became  their 
entertainer,  and  all  were  my  guests  for  the  evening.  Remaining 
with  them  the  next  day,  I  had  a  pleasant  and  profitable  time. 
There  was  a  general  holiday,  and  about  a  dozen  young  men 
offered  to  accompany  me  for  the  rest  of  the  journey.  Remem- 
bering the  happy  time  I  had  at  the  Lukuruwe  with  the  crowd 
who  gathered  to  my  camp  when  I  killed  the  two  hippopotami, 


224  ANXIETIES,  PRAYERS 

I  thought  I  would  adopt  the  same  plan  with  these  young  men. 
We  started  into  the  bush,  built  a  camp  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Lufira  River,  where  there  was  plenty  of  game,  and  we 
spent  six  days  together.  Others  joined  our  company  from  the 
neighbouring  villages.  Sufficient  food  was  supplied  to  them, 
and  the  young  men  attended  to  their  own  cooking,  and  every- 
thing that  was  needful.  I  embraced  every  opportunity  of 
explaining  to  them  the  truths  of  Scripture,  and  all  appeared 
intensely  interested  in  our  morning  and  evening  readings. 

"  One  learns  at  such  times  that  there  are  compensations  in 
lonely  service  in  Central  Africa.  The  pri\'ilege  of  being  enabled 
wholly  to  engross  oneself  from  morning  to  night  in  the  business 
of  reaching  the  hearts  of  these  people  is  very  great  indeed.  In 
fact,  I  often  feel  that  the  present  compensations  quite  outweigh 
any  sacrifice  made.  All  that  draws  us  nearer  to  God  is  rich  and 
fertile  in  reward  ;  yea,  it  is  good  at  times  even  to  be  cast  down, 
for  the  Lord  comforteth  them  that  are  so. 

"  On  returning  to  my  house  I  found  that  a  company  of 
Bihe  traders  had  arrived.  They  reported  the  death  of  Chipongi, 
the  chief  of  that  place,  and  also  told  me  that  there  was  a  white 
man  in  Bihe,  kno%vn  as  '  Monare's  brother,'  who  was  planning 
to  reach  the  Garenganze.  Their  not  having  letters  of  any  kind, 
however,  made  me  rather  suspicious  of  their  statements,  and 
their  extravagant  accounts  of  the  immense  follo^^^ng  that  this 
white  man  had,  and  the  great  amount  of  goods  in  his  possession, 
and  other  cock-and-bull  stories  with  which  they  filled  my  ears, 
made  me  still  more  doubt  their  truthfulness. 

"  When  we  go  to  any  people,  Jew  or  Gentile,  as  the  Lord's 
ambassadors,  they  have  surely  a  right  to  ask  for  our  credentials. 
The  early  missionaries  when  preaching  to  the  Jew  appealed 
to  Scripture.  When  preaching  to  the  Gentile  their  preaching 
was  accompanied  with  miraculous  power.  But  are  we  to-day 
so  left  to  ourselves  and  our  own  resources  that  we  have  nothing 
to  say  to  the  African  challenge  coming  more  or  less  directly, 
'  WTiere  are  your  credentials  ?  '  It  was  always  with  a  peculiar 
sense  of  triumph  that  I  was  able  to  quote  John's  words,  and 
assure  my  hearers  that  it  was  so.  He  Who  had  sent  me  was 
with  me.  With  me,  making  it  impossible  for  any  man  to 
injure  me  in  any  way  without  His  consent,  with  me  to  make 
them  feel  in  their  hearts  that  what  I  said  was  true,  and  with 
me  to  answer  my  prayers  and  give  me  all  that  I  asked  for. 


AND  DELIVERANCES  225 

Well,  I  was  able,  or  rather  enabled,  on  a  few  occasions  to  ask 
God  for  something  publiclj'',  and  on  each  occasion  was  not 
'  put  to  shame.'  Recently  I  employed  six  men  to  go  with  me 
on  a  Gospel  tour,  hoping  to  revisit  several  villages  down  the 
Lufira,  but  heavy  floods  of  rain  had  driven  man  and  beast 
away  so  that  we  splashed  about  for  two  days  with  a  handful 
of  rice  for  my  first  day's  rations,  soup  made  from  old  buffalo 
bones  well  gnawed  by  the  hyenas  for  the  second  day's  rations, 
and  on  the  third  day  we  hoped  to  arrive  at  villages  that  we 
knew  were  well  above  flood  marks  across  the  Chansamne 
Plains,  but  the  men  were  hardly  equal  to  it.  However,  we 
splashed  along  and  I  tried  to  cheer  them  up,  but  they  had  been 
thinking,  and  were  still  thinking,  since  last  night's  talk  round 
the  fire,  how  it  was  that  the  God  they  had  come  out  to  serve  had 
served  them  so  badly.  So  I  replied  that  no  doubt  I  had  made 
a  mistake  in  not  seeking  His  guidance  when  we  left  home.  But 
even  although  we  had  made  a  mistake  God  would  give  us  food 
there  and  then  in  the  midst  of  that  great  plain  as  easily  as  at 
the  villages.  So  we  stopped,  and  I  prayed  God,  for  the  sake 
of  those  standing  by,  to  give  us  food  in  this  wilderness  of 
water.  All  then  shouldered  their  loads  with  a  lighter  heart  and 
on  we  went.  I  then  noticed  that  close  by  there  stood  a  clump 
of  dwarf  palms  grown  on  an  old  ant  heap  and  just  as  we 
approached  them  an  antelope  sprang  out,  stood  dazed  for  a 
moment  in  the  bright  light,  then  started  to  run  towards  us, 
but  finding  he  was  coming  into  the  danger  he  had  sniffed,  he 
stopped  again,  giving  me  the  opportunity  of  killing  him  with 
one  shot.  So  that  there  on  our  path  lay  God's  answer,  and 
within  ten  minutes  of  our  asking.  I  ought  to  add  that  this 
was  the  second  antelope  we  had  seen  during  the  three  days,  and 
the  other  was  quite  out  of  reach  with  the  rifle. 

"  Sept.  16th,  1897. — To-day  has  seen  the  end  of  a  little 
episode  in  the  history  of  my  stay  in  Garenganze.  Msidi  tried 
to  force  upon  me  one  of  his  own  wives  that  she  might  be  in 
my  village  to  cultivate  and  grind  for  me.  Seeing  I  would  not 
consent  to  marry  any  of  his  daughters  he  seemed  to  think  this 
the  next  best  arrangement,  and  one  he  could  carry  through 
without  my  consent.  My  efforts  at  first  seemed  useless,  but 
on  sending  a  point  blank  refusal,  when  the  matter  seemed  to 
be  coming  to  a  head,  he  threatened  to  beat  my  messenger.  This 
made  me  think  that  he  was  possibly  suspicious  of  me,  and  that 


226  ANXIETIES,  PRAYERS 

when  other  whites  might  come,  we  together  would  dispute  the 
ground  on  which  my  village  stood.  But  by  placing  his  wife 
in  my  village  he  would  thus  have  a  foot  inside.  This  morning 
I  found  the  opportunity  I  had  been  waiting  for  of  getting  him 
alone  when  everything  was  talked  over.  I  tried  to  explain  why 
I  had  come  here,  the  nature  of  my  calling,  his  own  need  of  the 
Gospel,  etc.,  and  the  '  vniie  '  question  was  completely  talked 
out.  As  I  left  he  gave  me  a  little  girl,  about  10  years  of  age, 
who  had  been  brought  in  as  tribute,  saying  I  might  take  her 
to  my  village. 

"  One  of  Msidi's  hunters  came  to  my  house  to  say  that  there 
was  a  troop  of  antelopes  out  in  the  plain  to  the  north  of  the 
capital,  and  urged  me  to  go  at  once  with  him  to  the  spot.  As 
myself  and  boys  were  in  need  of  food  of  some  sort  I  started  for 
the  plain  with  this  man  as  guide.  We  found,  however,  that  the 
herd  had  gone  further  away.  Following  on  for  some  time,  we 
made  up  to  them  about  ten  miles  from  Msidi's  town.  I 
succeeded  in  stalking  the  herd,  getting  within  150  yards  of 
them,  and  from  behind  a  small  tree  I  opened  fire.  Although  I 
had  only  five  cartridges  in  my  belt,  three  of  these  antelopes  were 
brought  do\^Ti.  They  were  about  the  size  of  oxen,  and  are 
very  good  eating  indeed.  Two  of  them  lay  together,  and  the 
third  about  a  hundred  yards  off. 

"  By  this  time  the  sun  was  just  disappearing,  and  con- 
sidering the  state  of  my  larder  at  home,  I  could  not  think  of 
leaving  all  this  meat  in  the  plain.  I  therefore  sent  off  my 
companion  to  the  village  for  fire,  and  to  bring  more  cartridges, 
and  some  men  to  cut  up  and  carry  the  meat  back.  I  remained 
by  the  carcases,  armed  only  \\dth  a  long  hunting  knife,  having 
no  ammunition  for  my  rifle. 

"  Night  had  scarcely  set  in  when  I  heard  in  the  distance  the 
whoop  of  a  hyena,  which  was  the  signal  for  all  night  proAvlers 
to  gather  round  ;  so  I  determined  to  march  up  and  down,  and 
if  possible  hold  my  own  against  them.  Unfortunately  there 
was  no  moon.  It  was  a  pitch-dark  night,  and  I  could  only 
hear  the  animals  as  they  came  walking  round  in  the  dry  grass. 
Having  no  fire  with  me,  I  was  compelled  to  keep  shouting  at 
them,  making  as  much  noise  as  possible,  to  keep  them  from 
the  carcases  of  the  antelopes.  They  seemed  to  increase  in 
number,  and  feeling  unable  to  defend  all  my  spoil,  I  gave  up 
one  animal  to  my  hungry  visitors,  thinking  that  would  satisfy 


AND   DELIVERANCES  227 

them,  and  they  would  leave  me  in  peaceful  possession  of  the 
two. 

"  Feeling  the  cold  intensely,  I  took  out  my  hunting  knife 
and  skinned  one  of  the  antelopes,  rolled  myself  in  the  borrowed 
hide,  and  lay  down  on  the  ground.  But  soon  I  heard  the 
stealthy  tread  of  some  animal  coming  towards  me.  Springing 
instantly  to  my  feet,  I  rushed  to  the  place  where  I  had  left 
the  one  carcase,  and  found  that  in  the  course  of  an  hour  these 
hungry  brutes  had  devoured  it,  and  were  now  preparing  to 
pounce  upon  either  me  or  the  other  two.  By  dint  of  rushing 
up  and  down,  and  shouting  for  hours,  I  managed  to  keep  them 
off.  About  three  in  the  morning  some  men  came,  bringing 
fire  with  them,  and  I  got  a  little  sleep.  The  daylight  revealed, 
by  the  footprints,  that  my  companions  had  been  five  large 
hyenas  and  three  cheta  or  dog-leopards  ;  and  not  only  had 
they  cleared  off  every  atom  of  the  flesh  and  bones  of  their 
antelope,  but  they  had  licked  the  very  ground  clean  of  the 
blood.  We  carried  off  the  meat  of  the  other  two  triumphantly 
to  Msidi's  town,  giving  him  a  quarter  of  one  of  the  animals  as 
we  passed.  He  was  quite  astonished  when  he  heard  of  the 
night's  adventure.  Indeed,  he  professed  to  be  very  angry  at 
what  appeared  to  him  foolhardiness,  and  when  I  explained  that 
necessity  had  compelled  me,  he  wanted  to  know  why  I  had  not 
applied  to  him  for  food.  I  told  him  that  I  certainly  would  not 
do  that,  but  he  made  me  accept  a  large  bin  of  corn,  which 
contained  more  than  a  six  months'  supply  for  me  and  my  boys. 

"  Oct.  10th,  1887. — Kasule,  an  old  native  trader  from  the 
Quando  district,  who  has  been  living  here  with  Msidi  for  many 
years,  fell  into  a  fire  and  burned  his  right  hand.  He  did  not 
come  to  me  to  have  it  dressed  at  once,  and  mortification  set  in. 
When  they  brought  him  to-day  I  found  the  hand  in  such  a 
state  that  I  was  compelled  to  amputate  it.  Taking  him  out  to 
the  bush  close  by,  I  set  him  down  on  the  ground,  and,  with 
the  assistance  of  my  boy,  Dick,  held  his  arm  across  a  huge 
stone,  and  with  a  razor  and  a  little  penknife  I  managed  to 
sever  the  hand  at  the  wrist  joint.  The  poor  old  man  stood 
the  operation  wonderfully  well,  and  seemed  very  grateful  for 
my  help ;  but  he  was  quite  overcome  when  Dick  dug  a 
hole  in  the  ground  and  buried  the  hand.  I  kept  the  old  man 
under  my  care  for  some  days,  and  the  wound  healed  com- 
pletely.    He  seemed  very  unwilling  to  leave  my  village  again, 


228  ANXIETIES,  PRAYERS 

so  I  told  him  he  had  better  bring  his  wife,  build  his  hut  close 
by,  and  I  would  take  charge  of  his  little  boy  and  bring  him 
up.  I  thought  he  might  look  after  the  village  in  my  absence, 
and  would  be  useful  for  going  messages  and  other  hght 
work. 

"  Oct.  13th. — Msidi  sent  another  little  girl  to  my  village. 
She  had  run  off  from  her  o%vners  who  had  beaten  her.  Msidi 
sent  her  to  me  as  I  did  not  beat  people. 

"  Dec.  14:th,  1887. — Dick  had  just  prepared  my  usual  after- 
noon meal  of  corn  porridge,  and  one  roasted  pigeon  to  flavour 
it,  when  two  men  came  hastily  up  in  front  of  my  house,  and 
without  waiting  to  knock  pushed  their  way  in.  Before  I  had 
time  to  remonstrate  with  them  for  their  seeming  rudeness,  the 
foremost  one  thrust  into  my  hand  a  packet  of  letters.  I 
handed  to  him  and  his  companion  my  porridge  and  pigeon, 
and,  opening  the  packet,  I  found  that,  during  these  two  long 
years  of  silence  as  to  the  movements  of  the  outer  world,  I  had 
not  only  been  remembered  by  many  friends  at  home,  but  that 
two  brethren  were  actually  close  to  me  in  the  heart  of  Africa. 
Messrs.  Swann  and  Faulknor,  after  many  delays,  difficulties 
and  perplexities,  had  arrived  safely  at  the  Lualaba  River,  from 
which  they  had  forwarded  my  letters,  and  in  a  few  days  they 
would  be  with  me.  What  was  I  to  do  ?  Should  I  remain  and 
make  the  house  as  comfortable  as  possible  for  their  reception, 
or  start  at  once  to  meet  them  ?  I  decided  to  adopt  the  first 
course  as  being  the  most  sensible. 

"  Home  letters  tell  me  of  dear  Nigel's  death,  the  Nathaniel 
of  our  family,  an  Israelite  indeed  in  whom  there  was  no  guile, 
for  guilelessness  was  his  special  characteristic. 

"  Pedro,  the  bearer  of  these  letters,  had  also  brought  for 
Msidi  a  piece  of  handkerchief  and  a  message  from  the  two 
brethren.  To  deliver  these  he  at  once  started  for  the  king's 
court.  At  that  time  Msidi's  wife,  Mataya,  one  of  the  queens 
of  the  country,  and  her  eldest  son,  were  being  tried  for  having 
bewitched  her  younger  son.  This  younger  son  was  more  liked 
by  the  chief  than  the  elder,  and  had  gone  to  Sombwe  in  a  war 
party  (under  the  command  of  the  chief's  nephew,  Molenga), 
where  he  was  shot.  The  diviners  declared  that  he  had  been 
bewitched  by  someone,  that  his  body  had  been  stripped  of  its 
charms,  and  he  had  thus  become  exposed  to  the  enemy's 
bullets.    Suspicion  fell  on  the  lad's  mother  and  elder  brother, 


AND   DELIVERANCES  229 

who  were  consequently  brought  to  trial.  The  evidence  against 
them  was,  that  on  the  day  of  the  departure  of  the  war  party, 
the  elder  son  hid  the  gun  of  his  younger  brother,  and,  when 
the  latter  demanded  his  gun,  he  refused  to  give  it  up,  saying, 
'  Neither  of  us  is  beloved  of  the  chief,  why  then  should  we  go 
and  fight  his  battles  ?  '  The  mother  interfered,  and  said, 
'  Give  the  lad  his  gun  ;  if  he  be  killed,  what  matter  ?  Certainly 
the  chief  won't  weep  for  him.'  The  elder  brother  was  con- 
demned to  be  shot,  but  Mataya's  sentence  was  deferred  for 
a  final  day  of  deliberation,  when  all  in  authority  were  to  be 
gathered.  This  court  was  sitting  when  the  news  reached 
Msidi  that  Messrs.  Swann  and  Faulknor  were  at  the  borders 
of  his  country.  Mataya  was  at  once  pardoned,  and  the  sentence 
of  death  passed  upon  her  elder  son  was  commuted  to  one  of 
banishment  for  life,  the  chief  joyfully  declaring  that  no  human 
blood  should  be  shed  upon  the  arrival  of  these  his  white  guests, 
and  the  piece  of  coloured  handkerchief  that  the  brethren 
had  sent  was  handed  to  Mataya  by  Msidi  as  a  proof  of  her 
pardon. 

"  Msidi  sent  one  of  his  oAvn  sons  to  meet  the  caravan,  bearing 
with  him  IVIsidi's  welcome,  as  well  as  letters  of  greeting  and 
hearty  welcome  from  me  ;  and  I  at  once  turned  my  attention 
to  making  things  as  comfortable  as  possible  for  their  arrival. 
Some  mats  that  had  been  made  for  me  out  of  plaited  strips 
of  palm  leaves  were  sewn  together  to  form  a  ceiling,  and  racks 
and  shelves  were  made  to  receive  what  goods  these  friends 
might  bring,  in  order  to  place  them  above  the  reach  of  the 
white  ants.  To  obtain  the  wood  we  had  to  make  excursions  to 
the  forest.  The  legs  of  a  round  table  I  had  been  making  were 
already  in  the  rough,  and  these  I  had  to  dress  down  and  fit 
together. 

"  While  busy  with  my  preparations,  tidings  came  of  the  near 
approach  of  the  white  men,  so  leaving  everything  in  the  hands 
of  my  boys  I  started  off  to  meet  them,  going  along  the  usual 
caravan  road.  After  proceeding  for  some  distance  without 
hearing  from  the  natives  any  report  of  their  advance,  I  became 
concerned,  but  thought  that  possibly  they  might  have  taken 
the  by-way  over  the  hills,  and  I  therefore  returned  to  my 
cottage  to  await  their  arrival.  At  such  a  time  it  was  impossible 
to  do  nothing,  so  I  began  to  rig  up  a  flagstaff.  With  a  long 
bamboo  rod  bound  to  my  hammock  pole,  I  made  an  awkward- 


230  ANXIETIES,  PRAYERS 

looking  flagstaff,  which  I  fastened  to  my  pigeon  house,  and  a 
tattered  Union  Jack  was  got  ready  for  hoisting. 

"  Dec.  16th. — The  first  signal  I  had  of  the  arrival  of  the 
strangers  was  the  firing  of  three  pistol  shots  in  the  distance. 
Running  out  of  the  door,  I  tried  to  hoist  my  Union  Jack,  but 
the  line  had  got  thick  and  t-wasted  with  the  heavy  rains,  so  I 
only  succeeded  in  getting  the  flag  half-way  up.  Starting  down 
the  hill  as  quickly  as  possible,  I  met  ]\Ir.  Swann  some  little 
distance  from  my  house.  From  letters  forwarded  from  the 
Lualaba,  I  knew  his  name,  and  his  object  in  coming,  so  we 
rejoiced  to  meet  as  brethren.  His  companion,  Mr.  Faulknor, 
remained  with  the  caravan,  expecting  to  follow  in  a  couple  of 
days,  and  Dick  and  Susi  at  once  started  ■wdth  a  hammock  to 
help  him  on.  On  his  arrival  with  the  caravan,  we  were  able 
to  rejoice  and  thank  God  for  His  mercy  to  us.  "What  a  day  we 
had  of  real  Gospel  triumph  !  There  in  the  heart  of  the  con- 
tinent, standing  holding  each  other  by  the  hand,  we  sang, 
*  Jesus  shall  reign.'  " 


CHAPTER  XVI 


HOME    AND  FAME 


HAVING  introduced  the  new  arrivals   to  Msidi,   Arnot 
stayed  a  further  two  and  a  half  months,  until  they 
were  somewhat  familiar  with  the  work,  and  then,  on 
February  27th,   1888,  started  for  the  coast  and  home.     We 
confine  ourselves  to  three  extracts  from  his  diary  dealing  with 
the  journey  to  Benguella. 

"  Nana  Kandundu,  April  12th,  1888. — Have  had  a  good 
journey  thus  far.  I  took  a  different  route,  coming  more  south, 
where  food  was  plentiful.  For  several  days  we  travelled  along 
the  Zambesi — quite  a  large  stream,  though  near  its  source. 
Here  I  found  that  this  female  chief  had  gone  off  to  fight  with 
Kangombe,  a  Lovale  chief,  who  has  been  raiding  down  the 
Zambesi  with  quite  a  large  army.  Her  ladyship  of  this  place 
objects,  and  goes  to  defend  her  subjects. 

*^  April  ISth. — The  contending  forces,  we  hear,  have  met 
twelve  miles  or  so  from  here.  All  are  much  alarmed  by  many 
conflicting  reports,  and  the  sound  of  distant  firing  ;  armed  men 
are  pouring  in  and  going  on  to  the  fray  from  all  directions.  Her 
ladyship's  litter  has  come  to  her  town  ;  so  she  means  to  fight 
like  the  ancient  heroes  who  burned  their  bridges  behind  them. 

"'April  IMh,  midnight. — A  messenger  from  Nana  Kandundu 
is  calling  me  and  my  men  to  her  aid.  Five  camps  of  Ovimbundu 
have  gathered  round  me,  mustering  in  all  four  or  five  hundred. 
I  declare  neutrality  ;  at  the  same  time  promise  to  protect  her 
ladyship's  person,  should  she  be  worsted  and  come  to  my  camp. 
She  has  done  well  in  going  out  to  protect  the  down-trodden 
Lunda  tribes  along  the  Upper  Zambesi  that  Kangombe  has 
long  been  preying  upon.  She  effectually  demonstrates  the 
superior  humanity  of  female  government,  and  I  hope  to 
welcome  her  victorious  return." 

Benguella  was  reached  in  August,  and  England  on  September 
18th,  1888. 

231 


232  HOME   AND   FAME 

Quite  a  new  kind  of  work  now  awaited  the  traveller.  Mission- 
ary addresses  were  delivered  in  various  parts  of  England  and 
Scotland,  a  great  correspondence  was  carried  on,  recruits  for 
the  field  were  obtained  and  provision  made  for  the  enlargement 
of  the  work. 

Though,  as  his  diary  shows,  Arnot  was  not  thirsting  for  fame, 
it  had  come  to  him  and  he  was  quite  one  of  the  lions  of  the 
season. 

Under  the  heading  of  "  A  New  African  Explorer,"  The  Times 
gave  a  brief  account  of  Arnot's  travels  soon  after  his  return. 
Amongst  other  things,  this  article  said  :  "  His  outfit  was  of  the 
most  slender  character.  He  travelled  practically  unarmed.  He 
was  almost  everywhere  received  with  friendly  welcome  by  chiefs 
and  people,  who  clearly  appreciated  his  confidence.  If  he  had 
any  grievances,  he  never  took  the  law  into  his  own  hands  ;  he 
invariably  appealed  to  native  tribunals,  such  as  they  are,  and 
never  without  receiving  practical  justice.  .  .  .  Mr.  Arnot 
struck  north-west  (of  the  Barotse)  through  that  wonderful 
country  of  rivers,  to  Bihe.  The  hydrography  of  this  strange 
region  he  has  helped  to  unravel.  One  can  stand  almost  on  the 
very  spot  where  rivers  rise  that  flow  north,  south,  east  and 
west.  .  .  .  One  thing  he  seems  clearly  to  have  proved,  that 
Livingstone's  Leeba,  coming  from  the  north-east,  is  the 
real  Zambesi,  and  not  the  river  which  comes  out  of  Lake 
Dilolo." 

At  the  request  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Arnot 
read  a  paper  before  its  members  on  January  7th,  1889.  This 
summarises  his  journey  from  Natal  in  September,  1881,  to 
Bihe  and  Benguella  and  thence  across  the  Central  Plateau  of 
Africa  to  the  sources  of  the  Zambesi  and  the  Congo  and  was 
printed  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  published  in  the 
folloTsing  month,  together  with  a  map  which  the  Society 
specially  prepared  to  accompany  it.  This  map  not  only 
showed  Arnot's  routes  but  the  discoveries  of  other  well-known 
African  travellers,  such  as  Commander  Cameron,  Herr 
Rcichard,  and  the  Portuguese  officers,  Serpa  Pinto,  Capello, 
and  Ivens.  Livingstone's  journey  from  the  Zambesi  to  Loanda, 
which  attracted  Arnot's  attention  to  this  part  of  Africa,  is 
also  marked.  From  this  map  one  can  see  that  the  journey 
from  Peho  to  the  Garenganze  capital  was  over  fresh  ground  ; 
the  names  of  many  new  places  and  rivers  appear  for  the  first 


HOME   AND   FAME  238 

time  ;  the  true  course  of  the  first  part  of  the  Zambesi  River 
is  traced  as  rumiing  from  east  to  west.  To  Arnot  belongs  the 
honour  of  being  tlie  first  to  locate  the  sources  of  this  great 
water  highway. 

An  interesting  discussion  took  place  after  the  reading  of 
Arnot's  paper,  from  the  report  of  which  we  make  the  following 
extracts  : 

"  Mr.  R.  N.  Cust  said  that  Mr.  Arnot  was  a  stranger  to  the 
Society,  but  some  of  those  present  had  watched  his  progress 
for  the  last  seven  years.  About  five  years  ago  he  (Mr.  Cust) 
sent  the  first  notice  of  Mr.  Arnot's  existence  to  the  Proceedings 
of  the  Society,  in  which  he  said  there  was  a  young  fellow  named 
Arnot  walking  across  Africa  on  his  own  resources.  Mr.  Arnot 
had  the  two  great  characteristics  of  a  thorough  African  traveller 
— pluck,  and  kindness  to  the  natives.  He  must  have  had  many 
a  disagreeable  quarter  of  an  hour  during  those  seven  years, 
prostrated  with  fever,  suffering  in  his  eyes,  wanting  food,  often 
mthin  a  few  inches  of  losing  his  life,  but  his  British  pluck 
carried  him  through.  In  his  kindness  to  the  natives  he  was 
only  equalled  by  the  Society's  gold  medallist,  Mr.  Joseph 
Thomson.  The  natives  found  him  to  be  their  friend,  and  they 
still  possessed  that  nobility  of  character  which  recognised  a  man 
who  was  good  to  them.  In  March  next  he  was  going  back  to 
Africa  in  the  strength  of  an  evangehst,  and  would  take  with  him 
the  best  wishes  of  the  Society. 

"  Sir  Francis  de  Winton  said  that  even  from  a  merely  travel- 
ling point  of  view  Mr.  Arnot  had  accomplished  a  most  remark- 
able journey,  considering  the  limited  means  at  his  disposal ; 
but  he  had  also  added  to  geographical  science.  With  reference 
to  the  slave  trade,  which  it  was  desired  to  stop,"  Sir  Francis 
said,  "  blockading  the  coast  and  bombarding  peaceful  villages 
was  only  like  scratching  the  surface.  The  true  secret  was  to 
attack  the  trade  in  the  centre  of  the  country,  and  by  making 
friends  with  the  great  chief  Msidi,  I\Ir.  Arnot  was  doing 
something  towards  putting  a  stop  to  the  inhuman  traffic.  It 
was  an  important  fact  that  he  had  made  the  name  of  English- 
man respected  wherever  he  went." 

The  President,  General  Richard  Strachey,  said  :  "  He  trusted 
that  the  valuable  ethnographical  information  Mr.  Arnot  had 
collected  as  to  the  distribution  of  the  races,  and  the  distribution 
of  the  power  of  the  various  chiefs,  would  be  placed  on  record 


234  HOME   AND   FAME 

in  a  manner  which  would  make  it  available  for  future  travellers 
in  the  same  country." 

In  the  course  of  his  reply,  Mr.  Arnot  said  :  "  With  regard  to 
the  secret  of  his  own  success,  he  wished  to  use  the  words  of  one 
of  England's  worthies,  George  Herbert,  who  in  his  'Thanks- 
giving '  said,'  If  they  give  me  honour,  I  shall  let  them  see  that 
all  the  honour  doth  belong  to  Thee.'  The  one  reason  for  his 
success  in  Africa  was  the  reality  of  the  presence  and  power  of 
God  with  him  night  and  day." 

The  above  simple  and  courageous  testimony  is  embodied  in 
The  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society. 

The  Society  honoured  their  guest  by  making  him  a  Fellow. 
It  also  presented  him  with  a  medal  for  his  discoveries  in  con- 
nection with  the  Zambesi,  and  awarded  him  the  Cuthbert  Peak 
grant  in  recognition  of  his  seven  years'  travel.  The  Murchison 
grant  was  also  entrusted  by  the  Society  to  him  for  the  purpose 
of  conveying  a  suitable  present  to  Chitambo  for  the  latter's 
care  of  Livingstone's  body.  In  connection  vnth.  this  latter 
event,  Mrs.  Bruce  of  Edinburgh  (daughter  of  Dr.  Livingstone) 
had  a  medal  prepared  which  was  committed  to  the  care  of 
Arnot,  together  with  other  gifts  from  Scotland,  for  this  great. 
African  chief. 

Amongst  other  functions  arranged  for  Arnot  was  a  reception 
given  by  the  late  Lord  Radstock  at  the  Eccleston  Hall,  London, 
At  this  gathering  the  traveller  was  introduced  to  the  Duchess 
of  Teck.  After  the  reception,  the  Duchess,  together  with  her 
daughter,  then  Princess  Mary — now  Queen  Mary — took  him 
for  a  drive  round  Hyde  Park,  pointing  out  the  places  of  interest 
and  at  the  same  time  hearing  his  stories  of  travel.  On  bidding 
farewell,  Arnot  left  his  map  in  the  carriage,  and  the  Princess, 
jumping  down,  ran  after  him  and  returned  it  to  him. 

In  a  very  homely  letter  to  his  mother,  Arnot  thus  refers  to 
this  experience  :  "  I  had  no  less  than  three  meetings  yesterday  : 
Noon,  Aldersgate  St.  (R.  C.  Morgan  in  the  chair)  ;  afternoon, 
Eccleston  Hall  (Lord  Radstock).  What  an  ado  !  Swell 
carriages  kept  driving  up  in  quick  succession  ;  the  ante-hall 
was  being  prepared  for  a  reception  ;  grand  ladies  were  arriving, 
and  poor  me,  Avith  my  trussy  head,  etc.,  did  not  exactly  know 
what  calamity  was  about  to  befall  me,  when  Lord  Radstock 
called  mc  off  and  told  me  that  H.R.H.  the  Princess  Mary  was 
coming,  and  that  I  must  be  prepared  to  be  presented  to  her, 


HOME   AND   FAME  285 

and  sure  enough  in  came  the  cortege.  Sudden  swells  !  a  long 
alley  was  formed  of  curtseying  ladies,  when  Lord  Radstock 
came  forward  with,  '  Allow  me  to  present  to  you  '.  .  .  .  Angles 
ensued.  The  Princess  asked  most  interesting  questions,  and 
sat  through  the  lecture.  Then  we  all  had  tea  in  ante-hall 
(Princess,  nobility  and  poor  me  only).  Then  the  Princess 
would  have  me  drive  off  in  her  carriage  with  herself  and  another 
Princess,  and  asked  about  you  and  Dad  and  was  so  glad  to  see 
me,  and  would  never  forget  me,  and  was  so  helped.  She  dropped 
me  at  Lady  Beauchamp's,  where  I  had  tea." 

A  good  deal  of  Arnot's  time  in  England  was  taken  up  in 
preparing  Garenganze,  his  first  book,  for  the  press.  This  was 
published  early  in  1889,  and  had  a  good  reception.  Three 
editions  were  soon  called  for.  The  book  certainly  did  much 
towards  stirring  up  missionary  enthusiasm. 

We  quote  from  two  of  the  reviews  which  appeared.  The 
Times  said  :  "  In  a  modest  volume  of  270  pages  Mr.  Arnot  tells 
the  story  of  his  seven  years'  work  in  Africa.  He  makes  no 
pretensions  to  literary  grace.  .  .  .  One  feature  of  the  work 
accomplished  by  Mr.  Arnot  is  the  small  expenditure  of  money 
which  it  has  involved.  The  total  outlay  for  his  seven  years' 
work  has  not  exceeded  £500,  a  marked  contrast  to  the  thousands 
which  have  been  expended  on  other  expeditions,  covering  much 
less  ground  and  extending  only  over  a  few  months.  Mr.  Arnot, 
of  course,  had  to  pay  his  way  ;  but  his  following  was  at  all 
times  small.  ...  It  is  needless  to  say  Mr.  Arnot  travelled 
practically  unarmed  ;  he  certainly  had  no  hesitation  in  shooting 
game  when  necessary,  but  among  the  natives  he,  like  Gordon, 
never  showed  any  weapon  more  formidable  than  a  cane.  .  .  . 
In  his  journey  eastwards  Mr.  Arnot  passed  through  a  region  of 
great  geographical  interest,  the  greatest  river  region,  indeed, 
of  Africa,  what  Livingstone  very  appropriately  designated  the 
'  Great  Sponge.'  In  the  Lovale  and  Lunda  country,  the  region 
around  Lake  Dilolo,  one  finds  within  an  hour's  march  of  each 
other  streams  flowing  in  nearly  all  directions  of  the  compass — 
north-eastward  and  northward  to  the  Congo  and  its  tributaries, 
south-eastward  to  the  Zambesi,  westward  and  north-westward 
to  the  Atlantic.  .  .  . 

"  Mr.  Arnot  has  been  able  to  lay  down  with  greater  precision 
than  has  hitherto  been  the  case  the  courses  of  many  of  these 
streams,  and  has  pretty  clearly  shown  that  the  Leeba  is  the 


236  HOME  AND   FAME 

real  Zambesi,  which  comes  from  the  plateau  on  the  west  of  the 
Garenganze  country." 

The  Glasgow  Herald  said  :  "  Mr.  Arnot's  book  appears  to- 
day. It  is  a  modest  volume  of  270  pages,  issued  at  the  moderate 
figure  of  2s.  6d.,  Mr.  Arnot  being  determined  to  obtain  as  wide 
a  circulation  as  possible  for  his  narrative.  The  first  edition 
of  5000  copies  is,  I  believe,  all  taken  up  already,  and  it  may  be 
three  weeks  before  a  second  is  ready.  Mr.  Arnot  confines  himself 
to  what  came  under  his  own  observation.  He  is  now,  and  has 
been  for  some  time,  taking  lessons  with  the  scientific  instructor 
of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  so  that  when  he  returns  to 
Africa  in  a  few  days  he  will  be  in  a  better  position  than  before 
for  collecting  important  geographical  data.  He  will  also  take 
with  him  a  photographic  apparatus.  ...  As  a  book  one 
misses  here  the  stirring  encounters  and  restless  movement  of 
Stanley's  narratives,  or  the  tactical  manoeuvring  of  Joseph 
Thomson's,  or  the  eloquent  description  of  fuana,  flora,  and 
scenery  of  H.  H.  Johnston's.  Mr.  Arnot  has  neither  scientific 
training,  nor  military  instincts,  nor  great  literary  gifts.  His 
book  is  compiled  from  letters  and  diaries,  and  it  is  bald, 
insufficient,  fragmentary,  and  by  no  means  a  fitting  memorial 
of  a  memorable  achievement.  Nevertheless,  every  page  of  it 
is  filled  with  living  interest,  for  in  every  page  of  it  we  see  the 
heart  of  the  writer.  Simple  and  unassuming  in  outfit  as  in 
character,  strong  in  faith  as  in  physique,  this  young  man 
quietly  sets  down  the  memoranda  of  his  travels  as  if  he  M'ere 
doing  nothing  out  of  the  ordinary." 

Arnot's  six  months'  stay  in  England  were  marked  by  his 
engagement  in  October,  1888,  to  Miss  Harriet  Jane  Fisher, 
of  Greenwich.  Neither  had  known  the  other  till  they  met 
shortly  after  the  missionary's  return  from  the  Dark  Continent. 
It  was  an  ideal  match,  and  the  marriage,  which  took  place  in 
March,  1889,  added  much  to  Arnot's  comfort,  efficiency  and 
usefulness. 

Many  friends  were  interested  in  hearing  of  the  open  door 
given  for  missionary  work  along  the  comparatively  healthy 
watershed  lying  between  the  Zambesi  and  the  Congo  River 
systems.  From  amongst  the  many,  twelve  were  willing,  in 
answer  to  what  they  believed  to  be  the  Lord's  call,  to  rise  up 
and  leave  all. 

A  large  meeting  was  held  in  the  Exeter  Hall,  London,  on 


HOME   AND   FAME  287 

March  19th,  1889,  to  bid  these  (fourteen  in  all  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Arnot)  farewell.  Each  of  these  missionaries  went  forth 
on  his  own  responsibility  to  his  Master,  though  not  inde- 
pendently of  fellow-Christians  with  whom  he  had  been  asso- 
ciated at  home,  and  who  gave  their  fellowship  and  counsel. 
The  party  were  all  closely  associated  with  "  The  Brethren." 
They  went  out  in  two  sections,  the  first  of  which  consisted  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arnot,  Mr.  Dan  Crawford,  Mr.  Geo.  Fisher,  Mr. 
F.  Lane  and  Mr.  A.  Munnock. 

A  report  of  this  meeting  was  pubhshed  in  one  of  the  current 
newspapers  as  follows  : 

"  On  Tuesday  two  meetings  were  held  in  Exeter  Hall,  to  take 
farewell  of  Mr.  F.  S.  Arnot,  and  his  companions,  who  are  now 
€71  route  for  Africa,  as  well  as  various  friends  destined  for  other 
spheres  of  missionary  work.  The  interest  in  the  proceedings 
was  wide  and  deep,  as  shown  in  a  remarkable  attendance.  In 
the  afternoon  the  body  of  the  large  hall  was  filled,  though  it 
had  been  intended  to  meet  in  the  lower  and  smaller  hall.  .  .  . 
Mr.  Arnot  .  .  .  spoke  of  the  narrow  paths  which  have  to  be 
trodden,  through  thick  jungles,  and  along  mountain  ridges. 
No  beasts  of  burden,  and  no  ordinary  vehicles  can  be  employed. 
Some  novel  trucks,  designed  by  Mr.  Edward  K.  Groves,  of 
Bristol,  will,  however,  be  taken  out,  and  it  is  hoped  the  native 
porters  will  use  them.  The  big  Exeter  Hall  was  not  big  enough 
comfortably  to  contain  the  eager  crowd  that  desired  to  have  a 
share  in  this  memorable  farewell.  Galleries  and  gangways  were 
packed  with  people  glad  to  get  even  standing  room,  and  an 
overflow  meeting  had  to  be  held  in  the  hall  below.  Leading 
members  of  the  community  of  Brethren  were  prominent  all 
along  the  platform,  but  there  was  a  goodly  sprinkling  of  other 
Christians.  The  great  audience  '  could  scarce  forbear  to  cheer  ' 
when  Mr.  F.  S.  Arnot  rose  to  speak,  but  the  platform  effectually 
imposed  a  wet  blanket,  and  hushed  the  people  to  silence.  Why 
the  speakers  should  have  unfettered  freedom  to  liberate  their 
souls  in  glowing  speech,  and  the  thousands  in  front  of  them 
should  have  rigidly  to  repress  their  emotions  we  fail  to  under- 
stand. Can  there  be  anything  dishonouring  to  God  in  a  hearty 
cheer  ?  " 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE    SECOND    JOURNEY 


WE  now  come  to  a  new  era  in  Arnot's  life.  Hitlierto 
his  African  experiences  have  been  unique.  His 
first  period  of  travel,  covering  seven  years,  was 
one  of  pioneering,  and  during  the  greater  part  of  this  time  he 
was  alone  amongst  the  natives.  Probably  no  other  African 
traveller  came  nearer  to  the  experiences  of  Livingstone  than 
did  Arnot  when  spying  out  the  land.  But  now  his  story  is 
merged  with  that  of  others.  In  fact,  it  belongs  to  the  establish- 
ment of  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  missionary  bodies  operating 
in  Central  Africa.  It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  disentangle  the 
thread  of  Arnot's  life  from  the  skein  with  which  it  is  associated. 
And  this  difficulty  is  enchanced  by  one  of  the  outstanding 
features  of  Arnot's  character,  viz.  his  great  humility.  His 
letters  and  records  from  this  time  onward  have  more  to  say 
about  the  labours  of  fellow- workers  than  about  his  own.  But 
as  the  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  tell  the  story  of  his  life,  rather 
than  the  story  of  the  missions  he  did  so  much  to  found,  we 
shall  now  only  seek  to  trace  his  footsteps,  and  in  doing  this 
we  shall  be  satisfied  with  much  less  detail  than  when  following 
him  alone,  and  in  paths  that  were  then  altogether  new. 

Arriving  at  Benguella  on  May  9th,  1889,  the  six  missionaries 
were  faced  with  great  difficulties  in  the  matter  of  transport, 
and  it  was  necessary  that  those  followng  should  be  acquainted 
with  the  situation.  Fortunately,  the  Eastern  Telegraph 
Company  had  just  finished  laying  a  cable  along  the  West 
Coast  of  Africa,  and  the  first  paid  message  from  Benguella 
was  one  from  Mr.  Arnot  informing  the  second  party  of  the 
state  of  matters.  As  things  seemed  to  grow  worse  instead  of 
better  two  other  telegraphic  messages  were  sent  in  order  to 
make  sure  that  the  new-comers  should  not  set  forth  blindly  on 
a  path  beset  with  so  many  difficulties. 

At  last,  with  the  help  of  six  men,  a  horse,  a  donkey,  and  a 

238 


THE   SECOND   JOURNEY  239 

mule,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arnot,  Messrs.  Lane  and  Munnoch,  and 
Dick,  Arnot's  old  boy,  who  had  come  to  meet  him,  a  start  was 
made  for  the  interior,  Messrs.  Crawford  and  Fisher  being  left 
at  the  coast  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  second  party. 

On  the  second  day  out  Mr.  Lane  was  down  with  an  attack  of 
fever  and  dysentery,  and  after  a  delay  of  another  day  he  and 
Mr.  Munnock  returned  to  Benguella,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arnot 
pushing  on  to  Bailundu  to  procure  carriers.  Travelling  through 
the  passes  leading  to  Chisanje  these  latter  had  to  walk  most  of 
the  way.  In  clambering  over  huge  boulders  the  horse  fell  once 
or  twice  and  got  badly  cut,  and  the  donkey  was  very  obstinate. 
At  last  late  one  afternoon  they  struggled  into  camp,  Mrs.  Arnot 
having  fainted  twice  from  the  heat  and  the  exertion. 

The  few  men  they  had  were  engaged  to  go  only  as  far  as  the 
Chivulu  country,  which  was  safely  reached  on  July  6th,  after 
eleven  days'  journey  from  the  coast.  Here  they  remained  for 
a  few  days  whilst  Dick  went  on  to  King  Ekwikwi's  war  camp 
to  ask  him  for  carriers  to  take  them  to  Bailundu.  He  sent 
nineteen,  so  Mrs.  Arnot  was  able  to  enjoy  the  luxury  of  riding 
in  a  hammock,  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  two  men.  Three 
days'  travelhng  brought  them  to  Ekwikwi's  camp.  "  This 
great  man,"  Arnot  says,  "  was  able,  it  seemed,  to  block  the 
caravan  road  for  a  year  or  two  at  a  time,  and  only  by  paying  a 
heavy  blackmail  was  it  possible  for  the  Portuguese  to  take 
their  ivory  and  rubber  to  the  coast.  After  travelling  for  four- 
teen days  we  arrived  at  the  war  camp,  where  all  was  drunken- 
ness and  great  swelling  words  of  brag  and  boast  as  to  the  prowess 
of  Ekwikwi,  and  of  how  the  white  man  was  tributary  to  him. 
At  my  first  interview  I  did  not  make  much  progress,  but  he 
gave  us  a  hut  and  we  settled  down  to  the  difficult  task  of  trying 
to  soften  his  hard  heart.  It  so  happened  that  a  friend  in 
Demerara  had  sent  me  a  very  fine  hammock,  made  entirely  by 
Indians.  When  the  chief  saw  me  hang  it  up  he  coveted  it 
greedily.  So  next  day  I  repeated  my  request  and  gave  him  the 
hammock.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  effective.  He 
granted  all  I  wanted." 

Mrs.  Arnot  had  fever  for  a  few  days  in  this  camp  and  it  was 
thought  the  wiser  plan  to  take  her  on  to  the  American  Mission 
Station  in  Bailundu,  after  which  Arnot  returned  to  the  Chivanda 
country,  where,  during  August,  1889,  he  was  alone,  as  of  old. 
"  For  several  weeks,"  he  says,  "  I  toiled  about  from  village  to 


240  THE   SECOND   JOURNEY 

village  on  my  poor  horse,  sometimes  covering  sixtj'-  miles  a  day 
collecting  or  trying  to  collect  carriers.  One  night  would  find 
me  lying  curled  up  by  a  fire  in  a  corner  of  a  native  hut,  with 
seven  or  eight  long  black  fellows  stretched  out  all  around  me, 
and  the  next  night  perhaps  making  the  most  of  some  deserted 
camp  in  the  bush.  At  last,  little  by  little,  hope  began  to  rise  ; 
but  even  when  promises  were  given,  second  and  third  visits 
had  to  be  made.  Then  came  the  final  assurance,  '  Yes  !  let 
me  see,  to-day  mj^^  wife  has  gone  to  the  field  barn  for  corn  ;  to- 
morrow she  \dll  soak  and  hull  it ;  on  the  third  day  she  will 
pound  it  into  meal ;  on  the  fourth  day  she  will  dry  it  and  put 
it  into  a  skin  bag — why  on  the  fifth  day  I  Avill  be  ready.'  '  And 
what  about  your  two  brothers  you  promised  to  bring  with  you  ?' 
'  Oh  !  they  have  gone  to  a  spirit  dance  at  our  mother's  village.' 
This  one  definite  promise,  however,  gives  me  something  to 
work  upon.  I  start  off  several  paid  agents  to  scour  the  country 
and  call  at  all  the  villages  visited  by  me  with  the  final  announce- 
ment :  '  After  four  days  Monare  will  form  a  camp  at  the  meeting 
of  the  three  paths  by  the  two  rivers  in  the  Ohumbe  district  of 
Chivanda.'  I  post  off  for  a  good-bye  visit  to  my  wife  in 
Bailundu,  and  am  ready  waiting  at  the  appointed  place  on 
the  fifth  day.  The  delay  of  a  few  more  days  was  still  required ' 
with  a  little  humouring  of  the  first  batch  or  two  of  men  who 
had  joined  me.  One  day  I  bought  them  a  goat,  another  day 
we  went  off  and  fired  a  stretch  of  reeds  by  the  river,  and  shot 
some  water-buck  as  they  escaped  ;  and  so  I  kept  the  men 
happy  until  all  who  were  coming  with  us  had  joined  the  camp. 
Then  came  a  talk  over  the  recognised  rules  and  bj^-laws  of 
the  road.  A  crier  was  appointed  to  call  out  each  evening 
instructions  as  to  the  next  day's  march,  and  a  start  was  made 
in  regular  order  for  the  coast." 

Arnot  reached  Benguella  on  September  1st,  with  one 
hundred  and  eighty  men.  At  first  sight  this  seems  to  be  a 
large  supply  of  carriers,  but  when  one  considers  that  there 
were  thirteen  Europeans  for  whom  everything  needful  for 
a  stay  in  the  interior  had  to  be  taken,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  caravan  was  far  too  limited,  especially  as  hammock 
bearers  had  to  be  deducted.  On  the  men's  shoulders  all 
supplies  had  to  be  borne,  including  bulky  cloth  currency, 
tents  and  bedding  for  cold  nights  on  the  hills,  cooking 
utensils,  supplies  of  food  to  take  them  over  long  stretches  of 


THE   SECOND  JOURNEY  241 

barren  country  where  no  provisions  could  be  bought,  changes 
of  clothing,  tools  for  building  houses  or  rather  huts,  medicine, 
etc.,  etc.  In  addition  supplies  had  to  be  taken  for  Messrs. 
Swann  and  Faulknor,  who  were  alone  in  the  Garenganze. 

The  second  party  had  arrived  at  Benguella  on  August  7th. 
Amongst  the  members  of  this  was  Dr.  Fisher,  brother  of  Mrs. 
Arnot.  The  landing  had  been  a  sad  one,  for  Mr.  Johnston, 
one  of  its  members,  had  caught  a  chill  at  Loanda  and  had  died 
shortly  after  the  ship  had  east  anchor  at  Benguella. 

The  journey  inland  was  full  of  sorrow.  On  reaching  the 
Utalama  camp  two  of  the  lady  missionaries  had  slight  attacks 
of  fever,  and  the  carriers,  finding  that  they  could  not  continue 
the  journey  on  the  day  appointed,  became  demoralised.  Many 
of  them  refused  to  go  to  Bihe,  and  fresh  men  had  to  be  obtained 
to  take  their  places.  At  last,  after  three  weeks'  waiting,  they 
were  just  on  the  point  of  completing  arrangements  for  a  start 
when  Mr.  Morris,  who  had  come  with  his  wife,  leaving  four 
children  behind  in  London,  was  suddenly  taken  ill.  He  had 
been  along  the  banks  of  the  Keve  River  the  day  before  with 
another  member,  hoping  to  get  a  goose  or  wild  duck  for  supper, 
and,  after  wading  through  several  lagoons,  returned  much 
exhausted  from  the  heat  of  the  sun,  which  had  been  intense. 
Upon  the  first  symptoms  of  fever  Dr.  Fisher  gave  him  the 
usual  medicinal  treatment,  which  seemed  to  check  the  disease, 
and  he  got  up  from  his  bed,  and  was  preparing  for  the  journey 
to  Bihe.  Just  then  the  shed  used  as  his  kitchen  took  fire,  and 
in  a  short  time  his  tent  was  riddled  with  holes  by  the  shower 
of  sparks  from  the  flames,  and  but  for  the  efforts  of  all  present 
the  whole  camp  would  have  been  destroyed.  The  excitement 
and  exertion  proved  too  much  for  Mr.  Morris  in  his  weak  state, 
and  he  had  a  relapse,  and  gradually  grew  weaker.  On  the  day 
after  the  fire,  Mr.  Gall,  another  member  of  the  second  party, 
who  had  strained  himself  to  the  utmost  to  save  the  camp, 
complained  of  headache,  and  Dr.  Fisher  had  him  carried  into 
his  own  tent.  For  several  days  he  was  delirious,  and  then  sank 
rapidly.  After  barely  a  fortnight's  illness,  Mr.  Morris  passed 
away,  and  Mr.  Gall,  after  a  still  shorter  illness,  died  a  few  hours 
later. 

Mrs.  Morris,  the  broken-hearted  widow,  decided  to  return  to 
her  four  fatherless  hildren  in  England,  taking  one  of  the  ladies 
with  her,  and  Mr.  G.  Fisher  also  decided  to  accompany  them 


242  THE   SECOND   JOURNEY 

home.  So  the  original  party  of  fourteen  was  reduced  to  eight 
within  two  hundred  miles  of  the  coast,  a  fifth  of  the  way  to 
the  interior. 

With  staggering,  bewildered  steps  the  diminished  missionaries 
turned  to  the  duties  of  the  day  and  resumed  the  journey. 

The  necessity  for  the  establishment  of  a  depot  for  the  various 
articles  required  by  those  already  labouring  in  the  centre  of 
Africa,  and  by  others  who  might  follow,  led  to  a  decision  to 
establish  a  Mission  Station  at  Kuanjulula,  in  the  Bihe  country. 
A  few  days'  journey  from  Bailundu  brought  the  missionaries 
to  the  new  site  in  safety.  Supplies  were  sent  forward  to  the 
Garenganze  for  Messrs.  Swann  and  Faulknor,  and  hut  building 
was  proceeded  with  at  Kuanjulula.  After  a  couple  of  months 
Arnot  writes,  in  December,  1889  :  "  A  dark  cloud  now  arose 
on  the  poHtical  horizon  of  Bihe.  The  king,  Chindunduma, 
declared  himself  suspicious  of  so  many  white  people  coming  to 
his  country,  and  blamed  Senhor  Porto  (who  had  put  in  a  special 
plea  for  us)  for  inviting  the  '  Englese  '  to  Bihe.  He  also  sent 
a  letter  to  Kuanjulula  commanding  us  to  withdraw  forthwith. 
This  it  was  imposible  for  us  to  do  without  throwing  away  all 
we  had  with  us,  and,  what  was  more  serious  still,  leaving  Swann 
and  Faulknor  unprovided  for  in  Garenganze,  for  the  king 
would  not  allow  us  to  go  toward  the  interior  in  our  flight.  We 
spread  the  letter  before  the  Lord,  and  committed  ourselves  to 
His  protection  and  disposal.  Next  morning  Senhor  Porto 
arrived  at  our  camp  in  a  very  excited  state,  saying  that  an 
army  was  coming  to  plunder  us  and  drive  us  out  of  Bihe,  and 
with  undoubted  kindness  he  had  come  over  to  do  what  he 
could  to  prevent  bloodshed.  In  a  short  time  the  army  came, 
consisting  of  a  company  of  the  king's  young  men  in  charge  of 
three  captains,  two  of  whom  I  knew  well,  Chikuya  and  Ukuesala. 
The  former,  when  in  charge  of  a  trading  caravan  from  the 
interior,  was  attacked  and  plundered  by  a  section  of  the  Lovale 
tribe,  and  I  found  him,  on  my  first  journey,  detained  as  a 
prisoner  in  the  village  of  the  chief,  who  had  robbed  him  of 
everything.  I  was  able  at  that  time  to  help  him  with  a  small 
gift  of  cloth,  so  that  he  obtained  his  release  and  returned  to 
Bihe,  professing  himself  under  lifelong  obligation  to  me.  I 
told  Senhor  Porto  that  we  had  nothing  to  fear,  and  going  for- 
ward I  greeted  Chikuya,  who  replied  ^^^th  a  downcast  look, 
and,  after  consulting  his  companions,  said,  with  all  the  authority 


THE   SECOND  JOURNEY  243 

he  was  able  to  command,  '  We  have  been  sent  by  the  king  to 
enforce  his  letter  ordering  you  all  to  leave  Bihe  at  once.'  I 
replied,  '  The  king  has  sent  the  wrong  men.  Had  he  intended 
doing  us  any  harm  he  would  have  sent  strangers,  and  not 
friends.  The  king  has  only  sent  you  to  talk  over  the  matter 
with  us.  Chikuya,'  I  added,  '  you  are  responsible  for  the 
conduct  of  the  warriors  you  have  brought  with  you.  You  had 
better  order  them  to  sit  down  together  there  (pointing  to  a 
corner  in  our  yard),  and  I  will  have  some  food  brought  for  them 
while  we  talk  matters  over.'  Chikuya  did  what  he  was  told, 
and  three  goats  were  handed  over  to  the  young  men,  while  I 
prepared  some  food  hastily  for  the  three  captains  in  a  hut  close 
by,  and,  with  the  Gospel  of  John  in  my  hand,  replied  to  the 
king's  letter.  Those  African  braves — like  a  wild  beast  missing 
the  prey  in  his  first  spring — had  no  longer  any  heart  for 
plundering  our  camp,  as  their  first  intention  clearly  had  been. 
Chikuya  pleaded  with  his  fellows  against  doing  so,  saying  that 
he  was  sure  the  king  had  had  his  ears  filled  with  lies  against  us. 
A  compromise  was  at  last  come  to.  I  gave  them  a  handsome 
present  of  trade  calico  for  the  king,  and  presented  each  of  the 
warrior  bands  with  four  yards  of  check  shirting.  Then,  with 
tents  and  such-like  improvised  accommodation,  we  made  them 
all  comfortable  for  the  night,  and  next  morning  they  departed 
in  good  order  without  having  robbed  us  of  even  the  value  of 
a  pin. 

"  As  soon  as  the  king's  young  men  had  taken  their  leave  a 
number  of  smaller  chiefs  in  our  immediate  neighbourhood  took 
the  opportunity  of  making  a  demonstration  in  our  favour.  No 
less  than  five  appeared  with  their  followers,  armed  to  the  teeth, 
dancing  and  shouting,  and  declaring  that  the  king  of  Bihe  had 
openly  insulted  them  all  by  sending  his  warriors  into  their 
province,  etc.  Finally  a  big  palaver  was  held,  and  two  chiefs 
were  appointed  by  the  others  to  go  to  the  capital  to  contradict 
the  lies  spoken  against  their  white  men. 

"  The  day  after  Chikuya  had  returned  to  the  king  a  messenger 
came  to  our  camp  calling  me  to  the  capital.  I,  with  my  wife  and 
Dr.  Fisher,  called  on  Senhor  Porto,  who  kindly  accompanied 
us  to  the  king's  town,  where  we  were  received  with  '  white 
chalk,'  meaning  acquittal,  and  not  with  '  red  chalk,'  which 
would  have  meant  guilt.  After  quite  a  formal  palaver  the 
king  presented  us  ■\\ith  an  ox  for  food  as  a  token  of  good  feeling, 


244  THE   SECOND   JOURNEY 

giving  Messrs.  Thompson,  Lane,  Cra\\'ford,  and  myself  an  open 
road  to  the  Garenganze,  and  permission  to  collect  carriers  for 
the  journey.  This  trouble  seemed  to  be  thus  well  got  over,  and 
we  went  on  with  our  preparations  for  the  journey  to  the 
interior  when  rumours  of  fresh  political  disturbance  reached 
us. 

"  About  this  time  a  Portuguese  expedition,  under  Captain 
Couceiro,  arrived  in  Bihe,  bound  for  the  Okavangu  River.  The 
king  of  Bihe  refused  to  give  Captain  Couceiro,  and  the  150 
soldiers  who  accompanied  him,  permission  to  pass  through 
his  country,  declaring  that  an  understanding  existed  between 
him  and  the  Portuguese  Government  to  the  effect  that  no  black 
soldiers  were  ever  to  be  quartered  in  Bihe,  and  that  he  only 
welcomed  white  strangers  to  his  country.  Senhor  Porto  did 
his  best  to  allay  his  fears,  but  without  avail ;  and  seeing  nothing 
but  trouble  before  himself  and  his  countrymen  he  settled  up 
bis  affairs,  spread  thirteen  kegs  of  gunpowder  on  the  floor  of 
his  house,  and,  opening  one  keg  and  lying  at  full  length  on  the 
other  twelve,  he  struck  a  match  and  deliberately  ignited  the 
powder.  The  explosion  threw  him  a  great  height  into  the  air, 
through  the  roof  of  his  house.  Dr.  Fisher  was  at  once  sent  for, 
but  the  poor  old  man  died  after  twenty-four  hours.  By  this 
time  Chindunduma  was  collecting  his  forces  and  threatening 
the  Portuguese  encampment.  Captain  Couceiro  withdrew,  his 
camp  was  ransacked  by  Chindunduma,  and  the  Portuguese 
settlements  of  Belmonte  and  Boavista  were  plundered  and 
destroyed. 

"  It  can  be  easily  mider stood  that  the  Portuguese  became 
suspicious  of  us,  seeing  we  were  '  English  missionaries,'  and  had 
been  allowed  to  remain  safely  in  Bihe  while  their  own  subjects 
had  been  driven  from  the  country.  \Vlien  we  remember  that 
at  this  particular  time  they  were  in  open  conflict  with  the 
British  South  Africa  Company  touching  their  East  African 
territory,  we  must  be  thankful  for  the  thoroughness  with  which 
they  ultimately  enquired  into  the  matter,  and  for  the  justice 
showTi  to  us.  I  received  an  official  letter  from  the  Captain- 
General  of  Bihe  and  Bailundu,  advising  us  to  ^vithdraw  from 
Bihe,  and  after  a  little  while  a  second  letter  came,  more  strongly 
worded,  saying  that  if  we  remained  in  Bihe  we  did  so  at  our 
own  peril.  Later  still  a  third  official  letter  was  sent,  in  which 
this    Captain-General    clearly    stated    that    the    Portuguese 


THE   SECOND   JOURNEY  245 

officials  at  the  coast  were  in  possession  of  evidence  sufficient  to 
convict  me  of  being  in  league  with  Chindunduma,  the  rebel 
chief  of  Bihe. 

"  By  this  time  Messrs.  Thompson,  Lane  and  Crawford  had 
gone  into  camp  at  Kalusia,  and  several  headmen  were  out 
collecting  carriers  to  accompany  them  to  Garcnganze.  We 
felt  the  parting  with  our  three  brethren  much,  )''et  longed  to 
see  them  finally  off  to  the  relief  of  Messrs.  Swann  and  Faulknor, 
and  were  thankful  that  they  had  learned  sufficient  of  the 
Umbundu  language  to  enable  them  to  collect  and  manage  the 
carriers  en  route. 

"  Dr.  Fisher  remained  in  charge  of  our  mud  and  wattle 
compound  at  Kuanjululu,  while  I  returned  in  company  with 
Mr.  Munnock  to  Benguella.  At  Bailundu  I  was  told  by  the 
American  missionaries  that  a  warrant  was  out  for  my  arrest. 
It  was  so  ordered  that  the  very  day  I  reached  Benguella  the 
Governor-General  of  Angola  arrived  there  from  Loanda  to 
talk  over  Bihe  matters  with  the  Governor  of  Benguella,  and 
both  gladly  listened  to  my  story,  and  acquitted  me  af  all  the 
charges  brought  against  me.  I  was  asked  to  protect  the  children 
of  Senhor  Porto  and  other  Portuguese  subjects  still  in  Bihe,  and 
was  informed  that  a  well-armed  force  had  left  Mossamedes  to 
chastise  the  king  of  Bihe,  and  that  the  officer  in  charge,  Captain 
Paiva,  was  commissioned  to  make  full  enquiries  into  the  cause 
of  the  revolt. 

"  I  got  back  to  Bihe  as  quickly  as  possible,  leaving  Mr. 
Munnock  in  Bailundu,  and  found  all  well,  though  anxious  for 
my  return,  as  they  had  been  disturbed  during  my  absence 
with  rumours  of  war,  and  of  the  coming  of  the  force  under 
Captain  Paiva. 

"  Captain  Paiva  with  his  army,  composed  chiefly  of  Trans- 
vaal Boers,  from  the  colony  established  near  Mossamedes, 
arrived  at  Bihe  on  November  4th.  He  attacked  the  town  of 
Chindunduma,  who  made  a  very  feeble  resistance,  and  soon 
took  to  flight.  Many  of  the  natives  were  shot  do"\vn  by 
the  mounted  Boers,  and  so  long  as  the  chief  was  at  large 
Captain  Paiva  scattered  fire  and  sword  throughout  the 
country. 

"  On  November  6th,  Mr.  Sanders,  oi  Kamondongo,  succeeded 
in  procuring  a  few  days'  truce  by  forwarding  to  the  Portuguese 
camp  a  promise  from  several  chiefs  that  Chindunduma  would 


246  THE   SECOND   JOURNEY 

be  delivered  up  to  the  Portuguese.  They  failed,  however,  in 
persuading  the  fugitive  king  to  deliver  himself  up.  The  days 
of  truce  expired,  and  the  burning  of  villages  and  shooting  of 
the  flying  people  began  again.  I  made  an  imploring  appeal  to 
the  chiefs  over  the  northern  district  of  Bihe  to  combine  in  some 
way  to  save  their  country,  for  every  moment  was  of  value.  In 
twelve  hours'  time  over  twenty  chiefs  had  collected  in  our  yard 
at  Kuanjulula  to  discuss  the  matter.  I  wTote  to  Captain  Paiva 
their  request  for  an  eight  days'  truce,  accompanied  with  their 
promise  to  do  their  utmost  to  capture  and  deliver  up  Chindun- 
duma.  The  Captain  in  his  reply  thanked  me  for  anything  we 
were  able  to  do  to  prevent  further  bloodshed,  and  promised  the 
assembled  chiefs  nine  daj^^s'  truce.  In  six  days  the  native  force, 
twelve  hundred  strong,  returned  with  the  runaway  king.  Peace 
was  at  once  declared,  and  arrangements  made  for  the  permanent 
occupation  of  Bihe  by  a  Portuguese  military  force. 

"  \Vhen  the  king's  town  was  taken  Captain  Paiva  seized  his 
papers.  These  Ovimbundu  chiefs,  being  unable  to  wTite, 
employ  as  a  rule  some  Portuguese  mulatto  as  secretary.  In 
his  official  report  to  the  Portuguese  Government,  a  copy  of 
which  I  saw  at  Loanda,  Captain  Paiva  had  copied  verbatim 
several  letters  that  he  found  written  by  me  to  Chindunduma, 
in  order  to  show  how  harmless  they  were.  One  referred  to  a 
present  of  cloth  that  he  had  asked  of  me,  and  another  was  a 
refusal  to  send  him  a  present  of  gunpowder.  At  the  same  time, 
sufficient  e-vidence  was  found  to  incriminate  a  Portuguese 
trader  and  rum  distiller,  who,  it  seems,  had  been  sending 
presents  of  rum  to  the  king  of  Bihe  ;  and  it  was  thus  evident 
that  it  was  not  me  but  he  who  had  sought  to  stop  the  Portuguese 
advance  toward  the  interior,  evidently  fearing  lest  his  own 
business  at  the  coast  should  suffer  if  fresh  centres  and  channels 
of  trade  were  opened  up." 

Whilst  Messrs.  Thompson,  Lane  and  Crawford  were  pressing 
on  to  the  relief  of  Messrs,  SwannandFaulknor  in  the  Garenganze, 
the  party  of  five  Europeans  (including  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arnot)  at 
Kuanjulula  were  solving  the  problems  connected  with  the 
transport  of  goods  from  the  coast  to  the  far  interior.  They  also 
felt  the  need  of  making  kno^^^l  the  Gospel  to  those  natives  in 
their  part  of  the  large  district  of  Bihe  who  were  out  of  the  reach 
of  the  American  missionaries.  Buildings  and  enclosures  for 
the^Station  were  erected,  and  an  effort  made  to  provide  food 


THE   SECOND   JOURNEY  247 

for  the  workers  by  farming.  The  study  of  Umbundu  avis 
prosecuted  and  sick  ones  were  cared  for. 

In  November,  1890,  news  came  from  Mr.  Dan  Crawford  of 
the  safe  arrival  of  Messrs.  H.  Thompson,  Lane  and  himself  in 
Garenganze,  and  their  joyful  welcome  by  Messrs.  Swann  and 
Faulknor,  with  whom  they  were  housed  in  the  little  Mission 
Station  at  Bunkeya  under  the  sway  of  the  great  chief  of  that 
country.  The  trials  of  the  long  journey  were  now  over,  but 
they  were  confronted  with  fresh  difficulties,  which  might  be 
summed  up  in  one  word — Msidi. 

"  African  despots,"  says  Arnot,  "  such  as  Msidi  of  the 
Garenganze,  Lobengula  of  the  Matabelc,  Liwanika  of  the 
Barotse,  have  no  ancient  hereditary  claims  to  their  extensive 
empires  ;  but  their  power  has  to  be  retained  by  the  same  brute 
force  by  which  they  or  their  immediate  predecessors  obtained 
it.  And,  so  far  as  I  can  find  out,  these  empires  had  their 
beginnings  about  the  time  of  the  introduction  of  guns  and 
powder  into  Africa.  Any  chiefs,  who  were  able  in  those  days 
to  get  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  in  arms  could  carve  out  for  them- 
selves enormous  kingdoms.  Lobengula  is  perhaps  an  exception 
to  this  rule,  his  father,  Mosilikatse,  having  conquered  the 
Makalaka  and  Mashona  tribes  with  the  spear.  But  in 
Central  Africa,  so  long  as  the  spear  and  the  bow  were  the 
only  weapons,  the  balance  of  power  seems  to  have  been  fairly 
well  maintained  between  the  small  tribal  chiefs.  Now  that 
the  power  of  these  African  despots  is  being  curtailed  by 
European  rule,  it  is  well  to  remember  that  they  have 
indirectly  played  an  important  part  in  the  opening  up  of  the 
interior  of  Africa. 

"  Dr.  Livingstone  was  led  to  undertake  his  journey  to  the 
Zambesi  through  hearing  that  Sebituane,  with  his  Makololo 
followers,  had  marched  northwards  from  the  Baltaping  country 
and  had  established  himself  in  the  Barotse  valley.  Sebituane 
soon  brought  the  tribes  all  around  under  his  sway,  and  by  the 
aid  of  this  great  chief  Dr.  Livingstone  was  able  to  obtain  boats 
to  ascend  the  Zambesi.  He  also  provided  carriers,  and  ivory 
for  the  purpose  of  goods  ;  and  Livingstone  was  encouraged  to 
make  his  first  great  journey  from  the  Zambesi  River  to  St. 
Paul  de  Loanda  in  1854. 

"  The  great  African  chiefs  have  generally  invited  and 
welcomed  missionaries  into  their  countries,  perhaps  wth  the 


248  THE   SECOND   JOURNEY 

idea  of  making  friends  with  the  white  man,  from  whom  powder 
and  guns  might  be  obtained,  but  they  have  jealously  watched 
against  any  possibility  of  their  own  influence  being  weakened 
by  that  of  the  missionary.  For  forty  years  missionaries  laboured 
in  the  Matabele  country  \Wthout  apparent  fruit,  simply  because 
Lobengula  quickly  called  to  his  capital  Gubulowayo  (i.e. 
'  the  kilhng  place  '),  and  disposed  of  any  of  his  people 
who  seemed  to  come  under  the  influence  of  the  missionaries' 
teaching. 

"  In  the  Garenganze,  I^Isidi  from  the  beginning  protected 
and  befriended  us,  so  that  while  we  laboured  at  the  language 
of  the  people,  and  then  went  about  from  village  to  village  telhng 
our  story  for  the  first  time,  our  lives  were  '  quiet  and  peaceable.' 
Mr.  Swann  and  I  were,  however,  repeatedly  apprised  of  this, 
that  though  Msidi  allowed  us  a  measure  of  liberty,  he  had  no 
intention  of  giving  his  people  one  inch  of  it.  And  he  seemed  to 
take  pleasure  in  pro\'ing  to  us  that  our  presence  in  his  country 
put  him  under  no  restraint.  In  order  to  rule  over  so  many 
tribes  he  had  to  make  his  name  a  terror,  and  perhaps  only  by 
comparing  him  -with  other  African  despots  are  we  able  to 
discover  his  virtues.  I  would  give  my  testimony  as  to  his 
having  an  uncommonly  kind  side  to  his  cruel  heart,  and  that 
^vith  all  his  rapacity  and  greed  he  was  at  times  lavishly 
generous." 

In  1891  seven  new  workers  from  Great  Britain,  Canada  and 
Demerara  were  added  to  the  force  often  stationed  at  Kuanjulula 
and  the  Garenganze.  It  was  therefore  decided  that  an  attempt 
should  be  made  to  establish  a  third  centre,  and  in  August  of 
that  year  Arnot  accompanied  some  of  the  new  workers  to  Nana 
Kandundu.    He  thus  describes  the  events  : 

"  Making  a  start  from  Bihe  is  always  tedious  work.  The 
villages,  where  the  men  whom  we  hire  as  porters  reside,  are 
widely  scattered,  and  their  friends  expect  them  to  give  a  visit 
all  round,  and  to  drink  beer  with  them  before  leaving  home. 
No  shipmaster  in  the  olden  days  could  have  had  greater  trouble 
or  required  more  patience  in  getting  his  own  crew  together  on 
the  eve  of  a  voyage  than  we  have  in  collecting  our  men  for  a 
fuial  start.  We  crossed  the  Kwanza  in  canoes,  August  31st, 
1891.  Since  the  military  occupation  of  Bihe  by  the  Portuguese 
the  natives  everywhere  were  found  more  easy  to  deal  with, 
and  although  we  exchanged  presents  with  the  chiefs,  they  no 


THE   SECOND   JOURNEY  249 

longer  plagued  us  with  peremptory  demands  for  tribute  at 
every  camp. 

"  On  the  way  we  sought  to  bring  the  Gospel  before  the  many 
carriers  from  different  parts  of  the  Bihe  district,  who  composed 
our  caravan. 

"  We  reached  Nana's  on  October  15th — only  six  months 
after  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bird  (two  of  the  new  missionaries)  had  left 
London.  The  absence  of  delays  at  the  coast  and  at  Bihe 
allowed  of  this  exceptionally  quick  journey  ;  but  it  had  its 
disadvantages,  for  they  found  themselves  in  the  centre  of 
Africa,  comparative  strangers  to  the  language,  the  people,  and 
their  customs, 

"  Nana  seemed  very  doubtful  as  to  our  real  intentions,  and 
was  fearful  of  losing  her  position  as  chieftain.  After  several 
visits  to  our  camp,  however,  she  became  more  assured,  and  came 
down  one  evening  Avith  an  ox  and  a  number  of  her  most 
important  people.  She  said  that  if  I  would  kill  this  ox  there 
and  then,  with  her  hand  resting  on  one  of  my  shoulders,  and 
her  husband's  hand  on  the  other,  all  her  fears  would  be  dispelled 
and  she  and  the  whites  would  be  friends  for  ever.  We  gladly 
agreed  to  her  proposal,  and  I  took  my  gun  and  went  out  to  the 
bush  with  Mr.  Bird,  and  the  ceremony  of  shooting  the  ox  was 
gone  through,  greatly  to  the  satisfaction  of  Nana  and  her 
people.  Next  day  we  sent  her  a  handsome  present  of  calico 
(96  yards)  and  arrangements  were  at  once  made  by  Mr.  Bird 
for  getting  a  house  built,  for  which  we  went  in  search  of  rafter 
poles.  Three  more  happy  days  of  fellowship  closed  my  stay 
at  Nana's.  The  altitude  of  Nana  Kandundu  above  the  sea 
we  found,  by  boiling  point  thermometer,  to  be  3690  feet. 

"  The  story  of  the  rescue,  on  this  journey,  of  a  little  boy 
named  Ngoi  is  full  of  interest,  giving,  as  it  does,  a  glimpse  into 
the  horrors  of  Central  African  slavery.  Socitota,  a  well-known 
Bihe  trader,  had  gone  to  the  Luba  country  to  obtain  slaves, 
and  while  engaged  in  his  nefarious  traffic  was  killed  by  a 
company  of  Congo  Free  State  soldiers.  The  remnant  of 
Socitota's  large  caravan  arrived  at  Nana  Kandundu  in  charge 
of  his  brother,  having  managed  to  escape  with  a  number  of 
slaves.  One  man  had  carried  a  little  boy  on  his  shoulder  for 
over  a  week — not  from  kindness  to  the  boy,  but  hoping  to 
exchange  him  at  Nana  Kandundu  for  a  goat  or  a  pig.  He  had 
cut  the  throat  of  the  rest  of  his  slaves,  he  said,  but  this  child 


250  THE  SECOND  JOURNEY 

escaped  a  similar  fate  because  he  was  light  and  easily  carried. 
This  man  iiad  hawked  the  child  round  the  Lovale  villages  for 
some  time  before  I  heard  of  him,  but  no  purchaser  was  found, 
and  I  gladly  gave  the  man  the  price  of  a  goat  for  him.  Little 
more  than  skin  and  bone,  Ngoi  was  unable  to  stand  upright 
from  sheer  weakness,  and  because  of  a  twist  in  his  back  from 
being  carried  so  long  over  the  man's  shoulder,  but  I  did  not 
despair  of  pulling  him  through.  He  rode  behind  me  on  the 
mule  all  the  way  to  Bihe,  chnging  wth  his  sinewy  little  arms 
to  my  back,  much  as  he  had  done  to  his  mother's  only  a  few 
months  before. 

"  As  the  child  gained  strength  and  confidence  he  told  his 
touching  story  with  great  pathos.  He  was  given  by  his  friends 
as  security  until  a  certain  debt  they  had  incurred  was  paid. 
Meanwhile  the  native  traders  from  Bihe  came  along  with  their 
guns  and  m.any-coloured  calico,  and  the  temptation  was  too 
great  to  the  man  who  held  Ngoi  as  security,  so  he  sold  him  to 
these  '  Ishmaelites '  of  West  Central  Africa.  After  long 
months  of  waiting  in  camp,  where  Ngoi  was  tied  with  a  lot  of 
other  slave  children,  a  start  was  made  for  Bihe,  but  they  had 
not  gone  far  when  they  met  the  Free  State  soldiers.  Ngoi's 
master  at  once  fastened  a  wooden  shackle  on  his  feet  to  keep 
him  from  running  away,  and  he  was  put  into  a  grass  hut  with 
other  slaves,  of  whom,  he  said,  there  were  hundreds.  Then  the 
fighting  began.  The  bullets  whizzed  through  the  camp,  and 
Ngoi  was  very  much  afraid.  StruggUng  to  free  himself  of  his 
shackle,  he  succeeded  in  knocking  out  the  pin  that  held  his  feet 
in,  and  off  he  rushed  to  the  bush.  In  a  hollow  tree  near  by  he 
found  refuge,  but  several  bullets  struck  the  tree.  At  last 
Socitota's  camp  took  fire,  and  little  Ngoi,  from  his  hollow  tree 
saw  the  flames  and  heard  the  shrieks  of  the  poor  slaves,  all 
fastened  together,  as  they  were  burned  to  death.  Then  night 
came,  and  all  was  still ;  the  hyenas  came  romid,  and  poor  Ngoi 
thought  he  would  never  escape  their  jaws.  Towards  morning 
one  of  Socitota's  men  stole  back  to  the  burned  camp  in  search 
of  his  master's  body,  which  he  found  and  buried,  and  also 
released  Ngoi  from  the  tree  and  carried  him  off  after  the 
retreating  caravan.  All  this  must  have  been  a  terrible  ex- 
perience for  the  poor  little  boy.  They  had  to  travel  very 
quickly,  and  from  morning  till  night.  All  the  other  children 
in  Ngoi's  company  were  killed  one  after  the  other.    His  master 


THE   SECOND  JOURNEY  251 

lifted  his  axe  time  after  time  to  give  him  the  fatal  blow,  and 
followed  him  \nth  it  over  his  little  head,  saying,  '  Now,  if  you 
stop  I  will  kill  you.'  He  was,  however,  brought  on  to  Nana 
Kandundu,  and  we  trust  that  he  will  also  be  freed  from  the 
bondage  of  sin  and  Satan. 

"  Leaving  Nana  Kandundu  with  Ngoi,  my  journey  to 
Kuanjulula  was  quickly  and  safely  accomplished  by  November 
27th,  and  I  was  very  thankful  to  find  all  well  and  the  work 
progressing. 

"  It  was  a  pleasure  to  find  the  new  workers  applying  them- 
selves successfully  to  the  study  of  the  Umbundu  language.  I 
have  often  observed  that,  unless  new-comers  apply  themselves 
closely  to  learn  an  African  language  during  their  first  few 
months  in  the  country,  they  rarely  so  master  it  as  to  accurately 
understand  what  the  natives  say,  or  to  express  themselves  Avith 
ease  or  fluency,  even  though  they  may  have  years  of  residence 
and  of  desultory  and  interrupted  study. 

"  '  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door  '  was  brought  forcibly 
to  my  mind  as  I  saw,  on  returning  to  Kuanjulula,  the  access 
that  Dr.  Fisher  had  to  the  surrounding  villages  and  people. 
It  became  my  joyful  privilege  to  unite  with  him  in  this  work, 
which  came  as  a  restful  and  refreshing  change  after  the  bustle 
and  arduousness  of  travel.  When  on  the  march  with  carriers 
there  are,  it  is  true,  opportunities  afforded  us  of  preaching  to 
the  men  night  after  night,  which  we  always  embrace  ;  but 
gospel  work  among  the  villages  is  in  every  way  pleasanter  and 
more  satisfactory,  inasmuch  as  we  are  free  from  the  distractions 
peculiar  to '  the  road ' — paying  off  and  engaging  men,  disputings 
as  to  pay,  rations,  etc.  At  Kuanjulula  we  arranged  to  hold 
special  meetings  during  the  moonhght  nights,  at  which  we 
could  get  together  from  20  to  150  hearers  every  evening. 
During  these  village  preachings  we  had  our  full  share  of  exercise 
of  heart,  both  of  joy  and  grief,  among  those  who  heard,  and 
some  of  whom  we  are  thankful  to  add  have  believed  in  Christ. 

One  young  woman,  D ,  has  been  a  typical  case  of  the 

'  good  ground,'  for  not  only  has  she  received  salvation  herself, 
but  by  her  prayers  and  zeal  she  has  gained  her  cousin  for  Christ. 

Another,  C ,  has  proved  the  power  of  the  Word  of  God  in 

the  heart  to  stimulate  the  mind  to  study  the  art  of  reading  and 
writing,  and  thus  he  has  been  able  to  read  the  Scriptures  for 
himself.    Another,  S ,  for  whom  much  intercession  had  been 


252  THE   SECOND   JOURNEY 

made,  after  the  preaching  of  the  Gk»spel  in  his  uncle's  village, 
confessed  himself  a  sinner  in  the  sight  of  Gk)d.  Since  then  the 
poor  man  has  lost  nearly  all  his  children,  five  of  them  dying 
within  a  few  months.  Of  course  his  friends  ascribe  these  deaths 
in  his  family  to  the  displeasure  of  the  spirits  of  his  forefathers, 
who,  they  say,  are  enraged  at  him  for  associating  himself  with 

the  white  man  and  his  religion.     To  some  extent  poor  S 

has  been  brought  to  a  standstill  by  this  overwhelming  trial, 
yet  he  not  only  continues  to  come  to  the  meetings,  but  also 
his  friends  with  him.  We  had  our  own  suspicions  regarding 
the  death  of  all  these  children. 

"  On  the  other  hand  there  are  those  who  did  run  well,  but 
who  now  walk  no  longer  with  us.  One  who  was  baptised 
publicly  as  a  Christian,  has  not  only  been  put  away  from  the 
Lord's  Table,  but  also  prohibited  the  premises  of  Kuanjulula 
because  of  his  wicked  and  depraved  example. 

"  Some  have  sought  instruction,  and  professed  themselves 
enquirers  after  God,  merely  ^\ith  a  view  to  improve  their 
temporal  condition.  The  tendency  of  the  African  to  be  inflated 
and  uplifted  presents  a  great  difficulty  to  the  Christian  teacher. 
How  to  instruct  the  mind,  and  yet  humble  the  heart ;  how  to 
clothe  the  body,  and  yet  strip  the  soul,  are  problems  that 
continually  confront  us.  The  effort  to  awaken  any  conscience 
toward  God  ever  reminds  us  of  our  dependence  upon  His  Holy 
Spirit.  Suppose,  for  instance,  that  you  visit  a  sick  man  ;  he 
may  possibly  tell  you  that  he  has  a  bad  conscience  ;  his  heart 
smites  him  ;  he  has  done  wrong  ;  and  that  is  why  he  is  sick. 
At  first  sight  it  would  seem  that  the  man  was,  from  a  Christian's 
standpoint,  in  a  hopeful  condition,  but  upon  further  enquiry 
you  will  probably  discover  that  his  omission  of  some  act  of 
gross  wickedness  is  really  what  is  troubling  his  mind.  He 
thinks,  perhaps,  that  he  has  offended  the  spirit  of  his  grand- 
father, because  he  has  not  avenged  his  death  at  the  hands  of 
some  witch  long  since  dead,  but  whose  children  are  still  alive, 
and  to  this  neglect  of  revenge  against  them  he  attributes  his 
present  sickness." 

After  Arnot's  return  from  escorting  the  small  party  to  Nana 
Kandundu,  the  state  of  his  health  caused  much  concern.  The 
first  visit  hom.e  in  1888  had  failed  to  remove  the  effects  of  fever 
contracted  in  the  Barotse  Valley.  Acting  on  the  advice  of  his 
brother-in-law,  Dr.  Walter  Fisher,  Arnot  accordingly  left  Bihe 


THE   SECOND   JOURNEY  258 

with  his  wife  and  Httle  girl,  reaching  England  in  June,  1892. 
In  the  following  March,  1893,  he  was  able  to  write  : 

"  In  looking  back  to  the  time  when  I  took  my  solitary 
journey  to  the  centre  of  the  continent  in  1886,  I  can  only  thank 
God  that  He  has  stirred  up  the  hearts  of  not  a  few  to  care  for 
this  part  of  Africa.  The  steps  of  27  persons  have  been  directed 
thither,  and  though  three  of  these  were  only  permitted  to  lay 
down  their  lives  in  the  Dark  Continent,  the  rest  are  yet  alive, 
and  nineteen  are  now  at  work.  My  wfe  and  I  hope  to  return 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  more  labourers,  we  trust,  will  follow." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


THE    THIRD    JOURNEY 


IT  was  two  years  before  Arnot  was  able  to  return  to  Africa 
He  quite  hoped  to  return  to  Bihe  and  merely  visited  his 
doctor  to  get  his  approval.  The  doctor,  however,  was 
very  firm  in  refusing  permission,  so  although  it  cost  him  much 
he  at  once  made  up  his  mind  to  make  his  home  in  England 
until  more  definite  consent  could  be  given.  With  his  ^\'ife  and 
child  he  settled  at  Waterloo,  near  Liverpool,  that  being  the  port 
for  the  line  of  steamers  which  was  used  at  that  time  to  take  the 
missionaries  of  the  "  Brethren  "  to  Benguella.  All  goods  for 
these  workers  in  Central  Africa  were  also  despatched  from  this 
port,  and  Arnot  was  able  to  supervise  the  shipping  arrangements. 
Whilst  engaged  in  this  work  he  was  able  to  initiate,  in  con- 
junction with  the  late  Mr.  Brooke  Broadbent,  what  afterwards 
proved  to  be  a  series  of  missionary  conferences  which  were  held 
yearly  at  different  centres  in  the  North  of  England.  Many 
were  stirred  by  means  of  these  gatherings  to  go  to  the 
foreign  field,  and  others  were  stimulated  to  give  the  necessary 
help. 

In  the  early  part  of  this  interval  at  home  Arnot  paid  a  short 
visit  to  the  United  States.  He  met  Mr.  Moody  in  Chicago,  and 
this  enterprising  leader  wanted  to  secure  him  for  the  Northfield 
Convention.  A  severe  attack  of  influenza,  however,  prevented 
this  arrangement  from  being  carried  out,  and  Arnot  returned 
to  England  sooner  than  was  originally  intended. 

During  1893  and  the  early  months  of  1894,  letters  from  the 
field  told  of  new  trials  and  difficulties  besetting  the  workers. 
The  hope  had  been  long  entertained  that  the  workers  in  the 
Garenganze  would  be  able  to  receive  all  their  supplies  from  the 
West  Coast,  and  that  the  opening  of  the  station  at  Nana 
Kandundu,  and  probably  another  in  the  Chokwe  country, 
would  greatly  facilitate  their  doing  so.  A  porterage,  however, 
of  twelve  hundred  miles  through  native  territory,  with  the 

254 


THE   THIRD   JOURNEY  255 

constant  risk  of  tribal  warfare  blocking  the  route,  was  from 
the  beginning  a  precarious  undertaking.  But  now  in  addition 
to  this  the  station  in  the  Garenganze  was  in  danger  of  complete 
isolation,  owing  to  the  occupation  of  that  country  by  Captain 
Stairs  on  behalf  of  the  Congo  Free  State.  A  letter  from 
Captain  Stairs  to  Arnot  told  of  a  new  order  of  things  there,  and 
of  the  possibility  of  the  West  Coast  trade  route  being  stopped. 
Msidi  had  been  killed  during  the  proceedings  connected  with 
the  occupation.  The  Zanzibaris,  attached  to  Captain  Stairs' 
expedition,  would  not  rest  until  the  head  of  the  once  great 
enemy  of  the  Arab  trader  had  been  cut  off.  Mwenda,  the  son 
of  Msidi,  was  recognised  as  chief  in  his  father's  stead,  and  a 
Belgian  officer  was  installed  as  magistrate.  The  Congo  Free 
State  Government  at  first  forced  the  natives  to  scatter.  In 
addition  to  this  dispersion  a  suspicion  was  aroused  in  the  minds 
of  many  of  the  Va-Garenganze  against  the  missionaries.  A 
section  of  the  people  looked  upon  the  conquest  of  their  country 
as  a  very  clever  piece  of  deception  and  generalship  from  the 
time  of  the  arrival  of  the  first  missionary  in  the  country  to  the 
cutting  off  of  Msidi's  head.  Messrs.  Thompson  and  Crawford 
decided  therefore  to  remove  to  Lake  Mweru,  taking  ^vith  them 
a  host  of  adherents,  men,  women  and  children.  The  isolated 
missionaries  hoped  that  from  the  new  site  it  might  be  possible 
to  open  up  communications  with  the  East  Coast.  In  the  mean- 
time they  were  greatly  in  need  of  supplies  and  were  feeling  the 
pinch  keenly.  Arnot  decided  that  these  circumstances  con- 
stituted a  new  call  to  proceed  to  Africa,  first  to  take  supplies 
to  the  stranded  workers,  and  secondly  to  ascertain  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  East  Coast  route  and  its  possible  advantages 
over  the  West  Coast. 

Leaving  his  wife  and  two  children  (a  second  child,  Nigel, 
having  been  born  in  England)  in  Liverpool,  Arnot  left  England 
in  August,  1894,  with  Mr.  Benjamin  Cobbe,  a  man  whom  Arnot 
described  as  possessed  "  of  much  quiet,  constant  zeal,  and 
habitually  prayerful  and  studious." 

Proceeding  to  Durban,  Arnot  called  at  Capetown  and  Port 
Elizabeth,  and  was  welcomed  by  the  assemblies  of  the 
"  Brethren  "  in  these  centres  and  established  a  fellowship  with 
South  African  gatherings  that  bore  rich  fruit  in  mutual  spiritual 
help  and  in  practical  support  of  the  work  in  the  mission  field. 
Waiting  to  his  v^ife  from  the  home  of  Mr.  Trill,  Arnot  said  : 


256  THE   THIRD   JOURNEY 

"  The  first  night  ashore  was  very  enjoyable.  I  lay  awake 
nearly  all  night  listening  to  the  ring-doves,  the  tree  crickets, 
the  frogs  and  other  night  insects.  Then  just  before  daybreak 
the  night-jay  set  up  his  shrill  call,  that  used  to  wake  one  up 
so  often  to  the  scramble  and  hurry-scurry  of  an  early  morning 
march.  Then  the  clear,  still  air  !  There  is  nothing  or  no  place 
equal  to  it.  You  must  come  along,  love.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Trill  is 
asking  me  to  promise  that  you  will  stay  here  on  your  way  to 
join  me  next  spring.  .  .  .  All  are  delighted  with  the  babies' 
pictures,  indeed  I  have  only  to  produce  them,  and  they  act 
like  the  proverbial '  touch  of  nature.'  " 

Whilst  waiting  at  Capetown  for  a  steamer  for  Durban,  the  late 
Cecil  Rhodes  sent  Arnot  an  invitation  to  meet  him.  Concerning 
this  meeting,  Arnot  wrote  :  "  Mr.  Rhodes  had  many  questions 
to  ask  about  the  Garenganze  country,  and  hoped  that  the 
brethren  there  would  be  willing  to  train  young  men  as  telegraph 
clerks,  etc.,  so  that  they  might  earn  good  wages  and  be  useful 
to  the  large  commercial  companies  and  European  governments. 
It  was  not  very  easy  for  me  to  explain  to  him  that  we  were  rather 
hoping  to  find  ways  and  means  of  teaching  the  native  boys 
trades  that  would  keep  them  at  home.  The  African  native 
cannot  be  employed  on  trading  stations  and  Government  posts 
without  developing  a  strong  inclination  to  pick  up  the  white 
man's  vices ;  and  even  when  congregated  in  mining  compounds, 
or  on  plantations  under  the  best  control,  they  are  still  exposed 
to  what  might  be  called  '  barrack  life  '  temptations.  The 
natives  can  weave  and  work  in  metals,  as  well  as  farm,  all  of 
course  in  a  rough  way.  Our  ambitions,  therefore,  I  explained 
to  Mr.  Rhodes,  lay  rather  in  the  line  of  stimulating  these 
industries,  and  in  preserving  African  village  life." 

Writing  from  "  off  East  London,"  Arnot  said  :  "  We  went 
ashore  at  Port  Elizabeth  for  two  days  and  met  with  several 
very  nice  people.  We  had  two  prolonged  conferences.  An 
'  Exclusive  '  evangelist  has  come  along  teaching  household 
baptism,  with  the  result  that  the  leading  brother  in  the  open 
meeting  had  all  his  family  baptised.  The  '  Exclusive ' 
evangelist  was  present  and  tried  to  defend  his  theories.  I  do 
not  knoAV  what  the  result  will  be,  but  I  think  our  arrival  there 
was  opportune.  ...  I  am  getting  on  nicely  with  Swahili. 
There  is  a  native  of  Zanzibar  on  board  who  speaks  English. 
It  was  very  soon  evident  that  my  way  of  learning  languages 


THE   THIRD   JOURNEY  257 

is  by  conversation,  and  through  contact  with  the  people,  for 
in  a  short  time  I  was  talking  with  the  man.  The  bookwork  is 
very  slow  Avork  to  me." 

In  September,  1894,  Arnot  and  Cobbe  embarked  at  Durban 
in  a  flat-bottomed  coasting  steamer  able  to  cross  the  bar  of 
the  Chinde  mouth  of  the  Zanzibar.  At  Chiude  they  went  on 
board  the  African  Lakes  Corporation's  steamer  George 
Stevenson.  They  went  as  passengers  of  the  African  Lakes 
Corporation  from  Chinde  to  Tanganyika,  "  entirely  at  our  own 
risk,"  Arnot  said,  "  as  the  Arabs  were  giving  the  British 
Administration  a  good  deal  of  trouble,  or  vice  versa.  This 
Company  (A.L.C.)  was  promoted  with  a  view  to  assisting 
missionaries  with  their  transports,  and  of  promoting  industry 
and  legitimate  commerce  among  the  natives.  The  A.L.C. 
bears  the  brunt  of  the  conflict  with  the  Arabs  of  Lake  Nyassa 
over  their  slave  dealing  propensities.  .  .  .  River  travelling  in 
Africa  is  always  restful  and  interesting.  We  often  ran  aground 
on  sandbanks  and  remained  fast  for  an  hour  or  two.  At  such 
times  the  crew  would  have  to  jump  into  the  water  and  help  to 
push  off,  the  Captain  leaving  the  bridge  and  urging  the  men  to 
'  pusha  '  with  a  long  stick." 

From  Katungas,  on  October  9th,  1894,  Arnot  writes  to  his 
wife  concerning  the  possible  changing  of  all  that  they  had 
planned  for  the  future  on  account  of  a  return  of  his  old  troubles  : 
"  We  have  got  to  the  end  of  the  river  journey,  14  days.  I  am 
greatly  pleased  with  it.  It  is  a  much  better  channel  than  I 
expected  to  find,  and  it  is  surprising  what  an  amount  of  traffic 
goes  on.  From  this  port  to  Blantyre  goods  are  carried  by 
porters,  and  about  500  men  come  down  on  an  average  per  day 
for  work.  .  .  .  My  owti  stupid  spleen  has  been  getting  bigger, 
which  suggests  very  gently  that  I  may  not  be  able  to  remain 
in  the  country  for  over  a  year  or  so  at  a  time.  I  have  not  had 
a  single  touch  of  fever.  So  it  is  probable  that  I  \\dll  arrange 
with  the  A.L.C.  Manager  for  any  coming  out  next  year  for  the 
Garenganze,  probably  better  be  brethren  only,  then  go  on  with 
Cobbe  to  Mweru,  see  Dan  Crawford  and  then  work  my  way  by 
tepoia  to  Nana  Kandundu  and  Bihe,  where  I  may  be  helpful 
to  all.  In  this  case  you  will  stay  on  at  Waterloo  with  our  sweet 
pets  until  Pe-pe  comes  back.  There  would  be  no  use  my  coming 
back  this  way  unless  it  were  to  meet  you,  and  I  could  not  hope 
to  make  you  comfortable  and  help  others  in  a  semi-disabled 


258  THE  THIRD   JOURNEY 

condition,  as  this  spleen  trouble  seems  to  amount  to.  .  .  .  This 
will  be  a  great  disappointment  to  you,  but  were  you  to  come  out 
and  I  not  able  to  remain  more  than  a  year  or  two  in  the  country 
it  would  be  very  sad  indeed." 

The  following  extracts  from  letters  to  Mrs  Arnot  tell  of  the 
progress  of  the  journey,  and  of  incidents  en  route  : 

"  Upper  Shire  River,  16th  Oct,  1894. — I  was  asked  to  preach 
in  the  church  at  Blantyre  on  Sunday  evening,  when  nearly  all 
the  white  people  turned  out.  The  church  is  a  wonderful 
building,  and  the  service  decidedly  ritualistic.  I  took  substitu- 
tion for  my  subject.  .  .  .  My  only  objection  to  this  route  is 
that  there  are  so  many  missionaries  along  it  that  one  is  not  so 
much  needed.  .  .  .  The  only  advantage  of  this  route  is  the 
transport.  The  changing  from  river  to  land  journeying,  the 
bustle  and  traffic  at  the  stations,  the  tin  fare  and  the  pro- 
tracted exposure  to  the  heat  of  these  river-ways  is  a  long  way 
inferior  to  our  pleasant  journey  with  our  owti  Ovimbundu  up 
to  Bihe,  and  were  carriers  only  sufficiently  plentiful  nothing 
could  equal  the  West  Coast  route  in  comfort. 

"  Karonga,  31st  Oct.,  1894. — Your  owti  hub  is  wonderfully 
well  again.  Since  getting  out  of  the  Lower  Zambesi  I  have  felt 
very  well  in  spite  of  the  heat.  I  am  very  glad,  however,  I 
wrote  you  not  to  come  this  way.  Honestly  I  don't  think  you 
would  stand  it.  The  heat  has  been  in  excess  even  of  Benguella 
heat,  and  day  and  night ;  then  fever  seems  to  be  as  common  and 
deadly  as  on  the  Congo.  Certainly  none  of  our  bairnies  could 
stand  it.  Then  there  are  so  many  missionary  societies  contend- 
ing for  every  inch  of  ground,  I  was  going  to  say,  right  on  to 
Lake  Mweru.  The  East  Coast  route  is  not  to  be  compared  to  our 
West  Coast  route  provided  carriers  were  only  more  plentiful  at 
Bihe,  so  that  I  think  I  am  right  in  planning  meanwhile  to 
go  out  to  Bihe  and  test  the  matter  afresh  by  spending  a  month 
or  two  there  and  getting  a  caravan  together.  This  might 
lead  in  all  probability  to  our  taking  up  our  quarters  again 
in  Bihe. 

"  Tell  Ray  that  coming  up  in  the  steamer  we  had  six  Sikh 
soldiers  on  board  and  they  were  all  seasick,  so  that  there  were 
six  seasick  Sikhs. 

"  The  little  river  steamer  we  travelled  in  was  not  able  to 
take  us  very  far  up  the  Shire  River,  so  we  were  compelled  to 
complete  the  journey  to  Lake  Nyassa  by  boat.    As  we  neared 


THE   THIRD   JOURNEY  259 

the  lake  we  had  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  one  or  two  hostile 
villages.  At  one  point  we  had  to  land,  as  the  channel  was 
completely  blocked  by  hippos.  I  shot  one,  hoping  that  the 
others  would  move  off.  But  the  old  bull  of  the  herd  landed  in 
a  rage,  and  came  running  along  the  sandy  shore  of  the  river 
to  destroy  our  boat.  I  ran  to  meet  him  with  my  rifle,  Cobbe 
following  me  with  cartridges.  My  first  few  shots  seemed  of  no 
avail ;  they  glanced  off  his  great  skull ;  so,  as  a  last  effort,  I 
knelt  on  one  knee,  and  was  able  thus  to  sight  his  chest  and  to 
plant  a  bullet  in  it  that  must  have  pierced  the  heart,  for  he  rolled 
over  sideways,  to  our  great  relief,  and  fell  into  the  river.  ^Vhen 
our  men  began  to  cut  up  the  hippo,  throwing  the  offal  into  the 
river,  ■udth  parts  of  the  meat  they  did  not  want,  we  witnessed  a 
most  extraordinary  sight.  About  twenty  large  crocodiles  came 
racing  through  the  water  from  all  directions  and  fought  over 
the  meat. 

"  Fife  Station,  ISth  Nov.,  1894. — I  am  not  going  to  say 
anything  more  about  our  future  plans,  whether  our  home 
should  continue  in  England,  Garenganze  or  Bihe  or  anywhere 
else.  I  am  just  going  to  leave  it.  At  any  rate  I  feel  sure  it  will 
be  my  dutj'^  to  come  home  for  you.  .  .  .  My  spleen  is  still  in 
evidence  and  I  had  one  sick  spell  after  riding  Cobbe's  donkey 
for  a  forenoon.  ...  I  have  been  travelling  mostly  in  a  tepoia, 
although  on  this  side  one  needs  to  employ  ten  men,  and  then 
keep  very  wide  awake.  They  rush  you  along  and  bring  j'^ou 
against  all  the  tree  stumps  in  the  country  and  bob  you  up  and 
do^vn  like  a  pea  on  a  pan.  They  hardly  know  how  to  carry  an 
ordinary  load,  and  boxes  weighing  about  60  lb.  require  two 
men." 

Writing  at  a  later  date  concerning  conversations  during  this 
period,  Arnot  said  : 

"  The  missionaries  are  not  united  in  their  work.  Some  quite 
laugh  at  the  idea  of  doing  anything  by  means  of  preaching  and 
think  education  and  industrial  work  to  be  the  most  helpful.  I 
point  out  to  them  that  our  fellow-countrymen,  with  education 
and  religious  training,  and  some  even  with  Christian  profession, 
living  immoral  lives,  having  no  more  strength  to  resist  sin  than 
the  Portuguese  or  Arab,  prove  beyond  all  question  that  all  are 
in  the  same  natural  condition  and  that  all  must  be  born  again, 
recreated,  and  that  this  spiritual  change  can  be  as  truly 
accomplished  in  the  most  ignorant  as  well  as  the  learned. 


260  THE   THIRD  JOURNEY 

"  When  we  reached  Lake  Nyassa  we  went  on  board  the  s.s. 
Domira.  Mr.  Chalmers,  the  Captain,  an  '  1859  revival '  convert, 
was  a  delightful  man  ;  he  gave  us  a  hearty  welcome.  In  his 
younger  days  he  had  OAvned  a  fishing  smack  that  sailed  from 
Rothesay,  but  a  storm  swept  all  his  nets  away  one  day,  and  he 
had  to  compromise  ^vith  his  creditors,  to  his  great  regret.  With 
the  one  desire  to  pay  them  back  in  full,  he  faced  all  the  trials 
and  privations  of  Central  Africa.  The  happy  day  at  last  came 
when  he  paid  them  their  20s.  to  the  £,  with  interest.  And  he 
showed  mc  the  watch  his  creditors  had  subscribed  to  him,  with 
a  suitable  inscription  upon  it.  No  matter  who  came  on  board 
Capt.  Chalmers'  steamer,  all  had  to  join  in  the  evening 
worship. 

"  Lake  Nyassa  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  slave  dealers,  and 
Arab  dhows  were  to  be  seen  cutting  across  the  lake.  One 
morning  we  saw  from  the  deck  of  the  steamer  a  large  impi  of 
Bangoni — a  far-wandered,  Zulu-speaking  tribe — with  their  long 
shields  and  short,  stabbing  spears,  raiding  a  village  of  Atonga. 
We  landed  at  Bandawe  and  spent  a  few  hours  with  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Laws,  but,  a  storm  coming  up,  we  had  to  return  to  the  steamer 
and  run  before  it  to  a  sheltering  bay. 

"  Disembarking  at  Karonga,  we  were  greeted  by  swarms  of 
Kakonde  women,  wading  into  the  water,  offering  to  carry  our 
bag  and  baggage  over  the  long  shallow  stretch  of  water,  lying 
between  the  steamer  and  the  shore.  Karonga  is  the  beginning 
of  the  Stevenson  road,  made  in  order  to  unite  Lake  Nyassa  and 
Lake  Tanganyika,  another  example  of  disinterested  interest 
in  the  opening  up  of  Central  Africa,  the  late  Mr.  Stevenson 
deriving  no  benefit  from  the  outlay  this  engineering  project 
involved. 

"  An  Arab  trader,  Malose,  had  built  his  fortified  village  at 
the  very  back  door  of  Karonga.  Mr.  Cobbe  and  I  had  not  much 
difficulty  in  slipping  past  Malose's  stronghold,  and  we  were 
soon  passing  by  the  head  waters  of  the  Chambesi  River  on  our 
way  across  the  plateau. 

"  Lake  Tanganyika  was  a  grand  sight.  The  south  end  of  it 
appeared  to  be  a  vast,  deep  sheet  of  water,  surrounded  by 
mountain  ranges,  furrowed  with  deep  ravines  down  which 
fierce  storms  rush,  whipping  the  lake  into  white  squalls.  After 
some  delay  we  were  able  to  employ  sufficient  carriers  to  take  us 
over  the  hundred  miles  that  lie  between  Lakes  Tanganyika  and 


THE   THIRD   JOURNEY  261 

Mweru.  Being  entire  strangers,  the  Ba-mwanga  did  not  trust 
us.  But  by  turning  my  attention  to  the  women,  and  giving 
them  fair  prices  for  the  meal  they  brought,  and  small  presents 
to  their  children,  I  proved  again  that  '  the  hand  that  rocks  the 
cradle  rules  the  world.'  The  women  returned  to  their  kraals 
singing  our  praises,  and  their  men-folk  soon  turned  out. 

"  Crossing  Lake  Tanganyika  in  a  boat  belonging  to  the  L.M.S. 
we  landed  at  the  head  of  Cameron  Bay  on  the  west  shore.  .  .  . 

"  The  political  condition  of  the  country  to  the  west  of 
Tanganyika  is  peculiar.  We  have  to  go  back  perhaps  thirty  or 
forty  years  ago,  before  the  Arab  began  to  cross  the  Lake.  Then 
it  would  seem  to  have  been  a  well-peopled  country.  The  Arab 
does  not  attack  a  country,  as  a  rule,  in  such  a  way  as  to  compel 
the  people  to  band  together  in  self-defence,  but  appears  first  as 
a  trader,  then  chooses  some  fertile  spot  near  to  the  village  of 
some  chief  with  whom  he  has  '  made  friendship  '  and  whose 
daughter  he  marries,  and  asks  permission  to  build  a  camp  there, 
while  his  people  go  to  the  coast  to  bring  more  cloth.  The 
temporary  camp  is  gradually  made  stronger,  a  good  store  of 
gunpowder  is  secured,  and  the  Arab  gradually  becomes  more 
insolent  and  exacting  to  his  friend.  One  case  in  point  was 
brought  before  Mr.  Knight,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  Adminis- 
tration Station  at  Sumba,  the  other  day  when  an  old  man 
besought  him  to  release  his  daughter  who  was  in  the  clutches 
of  an  Arab  of  the  name  of  Meso.  Meso  years  ago  had  been  his 
sworn  friend.  One  day  he  had  asked  the  old  man  to  pay  him  a 
visit  and  bring  all  his  wives  and  children  with  him,  as  he 
wished  to  give  them  all  presents  of  beads  and  calico.  '  Get 
meal  ground  and  let  us  carry  a  present  to  Meso,'  said  the  old 
man  to  his  wives,  and  so  off  they  set.  Meso  made  all  the  women 
and  children  prisoners,  gave  the  old  man  a  severe  thrashing  and 
sent  him  away.  All  had  been  sold,  too,  at  the  coast  with  the 
exception  of  their  one  daughter,  whom  Mr.  Knight  was  able  to 
restore  to  her  father.  Thus  little  by  little  the  country  has  been 
depopulated.  Mr.  Cobbe  and  I  visited  one  of  these  Arab  camps 
the  other  day.  A  large  square  was  found  with  huts  of  slaves, 
roofed  with  earth  so  as  to  be  proof  against  fire.  The  huts  in 
the  centre  of  the  enclosure  were  all  built  in  the  same  Avay,  also 
the  chief's  house  in  the  centre.  Mats  and  rugs  were  spread  for 
us  on  his  verandah.  Since  the  British  occupation  these  Arabs 
have  lost  their  power,  as  well  as  many  of  their  slaves,  and  in 


262  THE   THIRD   JOURNEY 

the  Belgian  territory  their  camps  have  been  broken  up  and 
many  of  the  Arabs  killed.  The  man  we  visited  deplored  in  a 
lamentable  way  the  cruelty  of  the  white  man,  and  the  barbarous, 
unjust  warfare  he  was  waging  against  the  innocent,  unoffend- 
ing Arab,  who  always  treated  him  kindly,  gave  him  rice,  helped 
him  on  his  expeditions,  etc. 

"  From  Cameron  Bay  we  had  to  bore  our  way  through  a 
perfect  tangle  of  rubber  vine,  the  men  creeping  on  their  hands 
and  knees  and  pulling  their  loads  after  them.  Grassy  plains 
then  opened  up  before  us  as  we  travelled  westward.  The  bones 
of  thousands  of  buffalo  and  other  animals  lay  in  patches  here 
and  there,  victims  of  the  terrible  rinderpest  plague  that  swept 
the  country  of  cattle  and  game,  from  Uganda  southward. 
Further  on  we  came  to  a  pool  of  water  in  a  dried-up  river  bed, 
with  about  50  hippos  in  it,  all  trying  to  keep  themselves  wet 
until  the  rains  should  fall  again.  An  Arab  invited  us  to  spend 
the  night  in  his  boma  rather  than  expose  ourselves  to  the  lions, 
which,  owing  to  the  death  of  the  game,  had  turned  to  man- 
eating.  Indeed,  lions,  zebras  and  elephants  seemed  to  have  the 
veldt  to  themselves.  One  day  our  men  came  on  a  troop  of  lions 
that  had  pulled  down  a  young  cow  elephant.  They  drove  them 
off,  and  brought  the  meat  and  tusks  of  the  elephant  along  with 
them. 

"  The  Vinanwanga,  who  inhabit  this  country,  seem  to  be 
pure  Bantu  ;  they  extract  the  lower  front  teeth  like  the  Baluba, 
and  the  women  cut  and  draw  out  the  lobe  of  the  ear  to  such  an 
extent  that  they  are  able  to  insert  a  circular  ornament  as  large 
as  a  billiard  ball  in  circumference,  and  about  half  an  inch  in 
thickness.  Curiously  enough  this  tribe  is  not  used  to  the  hoe  for 
cultivating  their  fields  ;  although  they  are,  or  used  to  be,  large 
manufacturers  of  iron,  judging  from  the  number  of  upright 
smelting  furnaces  found  throughout  the  country.  Thej^  live 
chiefly  on  a  small  red  millet.  The  fields  in  which  this  millet 
is  grown  are  prepared  by  heaping  together  a  great  mass  of 
timber  and  branches  of  trees,  till  the  ground  is  covered  to  the 
depth  of  two  or  three  feet ;  when  thoroughly  dried,  the  wood 
is  burned.  At  the  beginning  of  the  rainy  season  the  seed  is 
scattered  over  the  wood  ash.  The  same  field,  I  am  told,  is 
seldom  sown  a  second  year  ;  so  it  is  easy  to  understand  how 
a  very  small  community  can  destroy  immense  forests.  The 
fact  is  that  there  is  very  little  of  the  better  class  of  woods 


THE   THIRD   JOURNEY  263 

found  in  this  country,  showing  that  this  destructive  process 
has  gone  on  for  long.  The  better  roots  of  wood,  which  are 
always  slow  growing,  have  not  a  chance  to  renew  themselves, 
while  the  softer  trees,  practically  useless  for  building  purposes, 
have  sprung  up. 

"  Nov.  ISth,  1894. — Arrived  at  French  R.C.  Mission  Station, 
and  had  lunch  and  dinner  \vith  the  seven  '  White  Friars  '  we 
found  there.  They  all  seemed  to  be  living  together  in  a  peaceful 
sort  of  a  way,  reminding  us  very  much  of  those  I  met  on  the 
Upper  Zambesi  about  twelve  years  ago.  One  hears  continually, 
from  Colonial  traders  and  others,  of  quarrels  among  the 
Protestant  missionaries,  that  have  become  public  scandals  ; 
but  one  hears  nothing  of  quarrels  among  the  Roman  Catholic 
missionaries,  the  perfect  order  and  discipline  undoubtedly  the 
reason  ;  each  '  Father '  or  '  Brother '  has  his  allotted  place  and 
work  ;  there  is  no  room  left  for  striving  as  to  who  should  be 
the  greatest,  for  all  their  relative  positions  of  importance  are 
already  allotted  to  them  ;  but  might  not  our  Lord  have  done 
the  same  and  for  ever  settled  the  question  as  to  who  should  be 
the  greatest  and  chief  disciple.  His  only  answer  was,  however, 
and  in  what  startling  contrast  to  all  human  wisdom,  '  He  that 
is  least,  shall  be  greatest.'  What  scope  we  have  for  continually 
exercising  ourselves  in  becoming  less.  The  Divine  path  and 
plan  after  all  are  only  possible  to  crucified  and  slain  men. 

"  Nov.  I9th. — Great  trouble  in  getting  our  men  along.  They 
are  so  hungry  that  every  fruit  tree  we  come  to  makes  them  halt 
in  spite  of  all  my  urgings.  I  managed  to  shoot  three  antelopes, 
however,  just  as  we  arrived  in  camp,  so  the  men  got  a  good 
supper. 

"  Nov.  20th. — Arrived  at  the  large  village  of  Kera.  It  was 
refreshing  to  see  so  many  people  together,  even  though  I  was 
not  able  to  speak  to  them.  They  belong  to  the  Mambwe  tribe, 
formerly  wholly  subject  to  the  Va-wemba,  but  since  the  British 
occupation  they  are  free.  We  passed  the  ruins  of  a  large  village 
that  had  been  burned  to  the  ground.  It  had  become  infested 
with  the  jigger,  or  penetrating  flea,  and  as  this  insect,  so  well 
known  on  the  West  Coast,  has  just  recently  found  its  way  across 
to  these  parts,  the  people  do  not  know  how  to  deal  Avith  it,  and 
in  this  case,  I  suppose,  in  despair,  they  set  fire  to  their  houses 
and  built  their  village  on  a  fresh  site. 
^_"  Nov.  26th. — What  Kipling  sang  of  the  Imperialists  is  true 


264  THE   THIRD   JOURNEY 

of  the  army  of  pioneers  who  are  now  bleaching  in  Africa  on 
account  of  the  callousness  and  forgetfulness  of  home  friends  : 

"  '  In  the  faith  of  little  children  they  went  on  their  way, 

Then  the  wood  failed,  then  the  food  failed,  then  the  last  water  dried. 
In  the  faith  of  little  children  they  lay  down  and  died 
On  the  sandbelt,  on  the  veld  side,  in  the  fern  scrub  they  lay 
That  their  sons  might  follow  after  by  the  bones  upon  the  way.' 

"  As  we  approached  Lake  Mweru  the  forest  became  more 
dense.  One  morning,  to  our  great  delight,  we  met  Mr. 
Thompson  a  few  hours  from  the  lake  shore.  He  had  kindly 
come  to  meet  us,  leaving  Mr.  Cra"\vford  in  his  camp  at  Chipungu. 

"  Mweru  has  nothing  of  the  grandeur  of  the  two  great  lakes 
we  had  just  left  behind  us.  But  it  is  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water, 
and  the  hills  around  are  covered  with  forests.  We  walked 
round  the  sandy  beach  to  the  north  end  of  the  lake,  crossed 
the  Lualaba,  and  climbed  up  to  Chipungu.  To  our  surprise  we 
found  that,  during  Mr.  Thompson's  short  absence,  Mr.  Crawford 
had  been  joined  by  Mr.  D.  Campbell  from  the  West  Coast,  so  we 
had  much  to  talk  about.  An  excursion  was  made  to  the  south 
to  look  out  for  a  better  site  than  Chipungu,  as  Mr.  Crawford 
was  anxious  for  more  room  for  his  people  to  build  and  cultivate. 
Finally,  Luanza  was  decided  upon,  and  there,  sitting  on  the 
stump  of  a  tree,  the  local  chiefs  gave  their  consent  to  the  laying 
out  of  the  station. 

"  I  recognised  quite  a  number  of  old  faces  among  the  natives 
that  had  built  at  Mweru.  One  young  man,  who  had  been  a 
faithful  friend  to  Crawford,  was  one  of  Msidi's  junior  execu- 
tioners. He  had  often  heard  the  Gospel,  and  had  grown  very 
hard  and  indifferent  to  it,  but  the  gentle  words  of  a  woman 
dying  under  his  cruel  hands,  as  she  pleaded  with  him  to  '  deal 
kindly  wdth  her  child,'  impressed  him  in  this  way,  '  What  the 
missionaries  say  about  me  is  true,  I  am  indeed  a  very  wicked 
man.'  At  one  of  the  meetings,  he  stood  up  and  publicly 
confessed  that  '  now  he  knew  the  blood  of  Jesus  was  sufficient 
for  the  washing  away  of  a  black  man's  sins  as  well  as  those 
of  a  white  man.'  He  told  us  that  for  months  he  had  been 
wrestling  with  the  devil,  who  kept  telling  him  that  '  a  black 
sinner  like  him,  a  shedder  of  innocent  blood,  could  not  hope  to 
be  forgiven  as  easily  as  a  good  white  man.'  Poor  people,  I 
am  afraid  their  early  notions  about  '  the  good  white  men  ' 
have  been  sadly  upset  in  those  remote  parts  since  those  days  ; 


THE   THIRD   JOURNEY  265 

so  that  the  devil  has  been  robbed  of  at  least  one  argument.  Far 
from  making  it  our  business — as  some  of  our  enemies  say  we  do 
— to  persuade  the  black  man  that  he  is  as  good  as  the  white 
man,  we  often  have  enough  to  do  to  prove  that  he  is  as  bad  as 
the  white  man,  and  in  need  of  the  same  Saviour. 

"  The  after  life  of  Mishe-mishe  proved  that  this  confession 
by  the  lake  was  real.  The  story,  too,  of  how  he  got  over  the 
difficulty  of  having  five  wives,  as  told  by  Mr.  Crawford,  is  most 
interesting.  Finding  that  Mr.  Crawford  was  not  prepared  to 
advise  him  as  to  what  he  should  do,  and  only  persisted  in 
assuring  him  that  God  knew,  and  by  His  Holy  Spirit  would 
enlighten  him,  he  went  home  and  did  not  come  again  for 
advice.  Calhng  his  wives  together,  he  said  that  if  one  were 
willing  to  remain  with  him  he  would  divide  all  his  property 
between  the  four.  One  chose  to  abide  as  a  poor  man's  wife, 
and  the  others  gladly  carried  off  their  portions  to  their  paternal 
villages.  Mrs.  Crawford  taught  Mishe-mishe  the  elements  of 
ambulance  work,  and  of  cleansing  and  doctoring  ulcers,  so  with 
a  linen  bag  over  his  shoulder,  he  visited  the  many  villages 
around,  reminding  the  people  of  what  he  was  at  one  time,  but 
now  that  he  was  a  Christian  he  was  willing  to  wash  out  and 
bind  up  their  sores. 

"  Chipungu,  Lake  Mweru,  7th  Jan.,  1895. — (To  Mrs.  Arnot.) 
If  you  only  saw  the  long,  long  screeds  of  letters  that  I  had 
written  to  you,  and  now  I  am  tearing  them  all  up.  Well  !  the 
story  is  soon  told.  I  was  completely  carried  away  with  things 
here :  site,  prospect  of  work,  etc.,  that  I  decided  to  remain, 
wrote  out  a  telegram  for  you  to  meet  me  at  Natal,  and  spent 
two  days  writing  you  instructions,  orders,  commands,  entreaties, 
advices,  etc.  Well  !  we  waited.  That  night  I  was  laid  aside 
with  severe  pain  in  spleen ;  next  day  prolonged  agony.  Crawford 
and  the  others  began  praying  me  home.  Now  I  am  over  it.  But 
my  spleen  is  as  large  nearly  as  ever  it  was,  so  that  I  have 
lost  in  a  few  months  what  took  eighteen  months  to  repair.  I 
may  start  back  in  a  month  or  otherwise.  .  .  .  All  seem  happy 
about  it.  In  fact  Crawford  and  the  others  seem  to  think  that 
my  place  is  at  home,  health  or  no  health.  So  we  will  be  more 
settled  now.  I  am  exceedingly  thankful  that  I  have  come  and 
got  fairly  in  touch  with  this  route.  ...  It  has  been  a  hard 
decision  to  come  to,  that  my  African  days  were  gone  by,  but 
now  that  it  is  so  let  us  live  for  the  work  at  home. 


266  THE   THIRD   JOURNEY 

"  Spending  those  happy  weeks  at  Mweru,  and  hearing  the 
story  of  the  cross  told  out  so  fully,  in  the  very  heart  of  Africa, 
as  the  only  point  of  meeting  between  sinful  man  and  a  sinless 
God,  was  to  me  an  abundant  reward  for  all  the  toils  of  pioneer 
and  transport  work  that  had  fallen  to  my  share. 

"  Mr.  Campbell  accompanied  me  as  far  as  Lake  Tanganyika  ; 
I  was  thankful  for  his  company,  as  a  serious  illness  overtook 
me.  At  Cameron  Bay  I  rested  and  recovered  sufficiently  to 
allow  of  our  crossing  the  lake,  in  the  middle  of  which  we  were 
caught  in  a  twirling  storm  of  vnnd  and  rain,  and  sent  flying 
back  towards  the  west  shore.  How  we  kept  afloat  that  night 
is  a  mystery  to  me,  as  the  waves  were  literally  covering  our 
little  ship.  By  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  found  we  were 
nearing  a  rocky  island  ;  we  managed  to  control  the  boat 
sufficiently  to  bring  her  up  under  the  shelter  of  this  island  and 
drop  anchor.    When  morning  broke  we  completed  our  voyage. 

"  Lake  Nyassa,  on  hoard  '  Ilala,'  2nd  March,  1895. — I  have 
crossed  the  plateau  safely  and  quickly  in  spite  of  the  continuous 
rain.  ...  I  came  on  board  the  Ilala  on  the  28th  February. 
We  had  to  row  in  a  boat  for  hour  and  a  half  to  Kambe  Bay, 
where  she  was  lying.  .  .  .  We  had  supper  and  a  big  crocodile, 
came  up  close  by  and  I  shot  it.  Night  fell.  We  were  preparing 
to  turn  in  ;  the  native  crew  getting  steam  up  and  ready  to 
start  about  three  or  four  in  the  morning  when  '  boate,' '  boate  ' 
comes  from  the  shore.  It  was  now  pitch  dark,  but  the  boat 
which  the  Ilala  tows  behind  her  went  off  in  the  direc- 
tion. Shortly  it  returned.  A  black  hand  thrust  in  to  me 
through  the  window  a  letter  rolled  up  in  calico.  I  opened 
it  and  there  was  your  telegram.  Well  !  Imagine  my  delight. 
The  O.C.  Co.  agent  at  Kituta,  Lake  Tanganyika,  had  sent  it 
back  after  me.  What  a  relief  !  What  a  mercy  !  Next  morning 
I  was  awake  at  four  and  lying  thinking  of  the  Lord's  goodness 
and  mercy  that  had  indeed  followed  me.  I  asked  in  prayer  for 
some  promise  for  this  dear  little  boy  that  I  had  not  seen.  .  .  . 
I  began  to  wonder  how  the  answer  would  come,  I  thought  and 
thought,  and  at  last  getting  up  I  turned  up  the  lamp,  opened 
my  Bible ;  my  eyes  fell  on  Isaiah  xliv,  and  there  in  the  third 
verse  read  :  '  I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and 
floods  upon  the  dry  ground.  I  will  pour  my  spirit  upon  thy 
seed  and  my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring.'  In  the  little  steam 
cabin,  by  that  flickering  lamp,  in  the  dark  early  morning.  I 


THE   THIRD   JOURNEY  267 

heard  God,  as  it  were,  speak  this  word  of  promise  to  me.  It 
came  a  direct  answer  to  my  request. 

"  Inhambane,  23rd  March. — I  met  a  young  man  at  Chinde 
who  had  just  come  up  from  Natal.  I  heard  him  whisper  to 
another,  '  That's  Fred  Arnot.'  Then  he  came  round  and  asked 
me  if  I  was  Mr.  A.  Whereupon  lie  began  consoling  me  upon 
the  death  of  my  father.  I  could  hardly  believe  it  at  first. 
However,  I  have  since  seen  a  Natal  paper  dated  March  8th, 
with  notice  of  father's  death.  How  I  did  wish  to  be  able  to 
wire  home  to  mother.  I  wonder  how  the  dear  old  mother  has 
stood  it.    It  was  quite  a  shock  to  me." 

On  the  voyage  home  from  Capetown  to  England  Arnot  met 
the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Andrew  Murray  for  the  first  time.  Mr. 
Murray  was  then  for  the  fourth  period  Moderator  of  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  of  South  Africa.  The  Rev.  George  Robson, 
Wesleyan  minister,  of  Capeto^vn,  is  fond  of  telling  of  the  enjoy- 
able and  helpful  fellowship  he  had  on  that  occasion  with  these 
two  men  of  God.  The  first  Sunday  out  the  service  in  the 
saloon  was  taken  by  a  dignitary  of  the  Anglican  Church  and 
was  followed  by  a  Communion  Service.  Mr.  Arnot,  Mr.  Murray 
and  Mr.  Robson  discussed  together  whether  they  should  join 
in  the  latter.  As  Mr.  Murray  had  presented  himself  for  com- 
munion on  a  previous  occasion  on  board  ship  and  been 
refused  participation,  it  was  decided  not  to  run  the  risk 
of  a  similar  experience  now  but  to  break  bread  together 
in  Mr.  Murray's  cabin.  But  the  regular  service  itself  they  all 
attended.  At  this  they  listened  to  a  sermon  that  for  dreariness 
and  childishness  would  be  hard  to  beat.  Mr.  Arnot  and  Mr. 
Robson  were  anxious  to  get  an  expression  of  opinion  from  Mr. 
Murray  about  the  discourse,  so  they  asked  him  what  he  thought 
of  it.  After  a  pause,  stroking  his  chin,  and  with  a  twinkle  in 
his  eye,  the  great  saint  said  :  "  Well  !  It  is  a  poor  hen  that 
can't  get  a  few  grains  out  of  a  muck  heap." 


CHAPTER  XIX 

GREAT    BRITAIN,     BRITISH    GUIANA    AND    EUROPE 

YIELDING  to  medical  adv-ice,  Arnot  remained  in  England 
for  several  years.  For  five  years,  from  1895  to  1900,  he 
lived  with  his  family  in  Liverpool.  The  time  was  spent 
in  pastoral  work,  in  giving  missionary  lectures  up  and  down 
the  country,  and  in  helping  missionaries  by  training  them  in 
dispensary  work  amongst  the  poor,  and  guiding  them  in  their 
studies  and  in  the  selection  of  their  outfits. 

With  the  help  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Nightingale  of  Shrewsbury, 
village  work  was  started  in  the  north  of  England.  Many 
young  men  gave  up  the  whole  of  their  summer  holidays  to  this 
enterprise,  and  many  were  the  testimonies  received  of  the  good 
done  in  this  way. 

In  1897,  Arnot  \'isited  British  Guiana  in  South  America, 
where  there  were  a  number  of  assemblies  of  Brethren,  and 
where  considerable  interest  in  the  work  in  Africa  had  been 
stirred  up  among  the  descendants  of  Africans,  and  from 
amongst  whom  not  a  few  volunteered  to  carry  the  Gospel 
back  to  their  oAvn  people. 

To  his  fellow-workers  in  Central  Africa,  Arnot  wrote  from 
Liverpool,  under  date  December  20th,  1897,  "  Notes  on  a 
visit  to  British  Guiana,"  from  which  we  extract  the  follow- 
ing: 

"  Knowing  that  there  is  much  in  common  between  the  work 
in  Africa  among  the  Africans,  and  in  British  Guiana  among 
descendants  of  the  same  race  I  thought  the  following  remarks 
would  interest  you. 

"  Although  the  work  in  British  Guiana  is  now  in  its  third 
generation  it  is  full  of  life  and  vigour.  The  foundations  were 
carefully  laid,  not  so  much  by  men  who  were  pre-eminently  -wise 
but  pre-eminently  godly  and  devoted.  The  work  began,  not 
among  half-civilised  blacks,  or  blacks  who  had  the  advantage 
of  learning  the  English  language,  for  the  slaves  as  they  were 

268 


GREAT   BRITAIN,   BRITISH   GUIANA    269 

brought  over  were  put  entirely  under  Dutch  or  English  over- 
seers who  delighted  in  teaching  them  the  little  they  learned 
wrongly.  What  between  the  two  languages,  Dutch  and  English, 
a  strange  dialect  came  to  be  used  by  them  that  must  have 
brought  them  much  lower  down  in  the  scale  of  intelligence  than 
when  they  used  their  African  dialects.  When  the  older  Chris- 
tians stood  up  in  the  meetings,  Mr.  Bergin  and  I  were  quite 
unable  to  understand  them — they  might  have  been  speaking 
Italian  or  Chinese.  Then,  what  little  morality  that  existed 
in  African  custom  was  nearly  entirely  driven  out  of  the  slaves  ; 
there  was  no  marriage  of  slaves  ;  mothers  were  not  allowed  to 
bring  up  their  children,  but  at  once  had  to  give  them  up  to  the 
plantation  nurses  and  turn  to  their  work  again.  Fetish  worship 
survived,  for  the  Africans  brought  it  as  a  common  inheritance 
from  ail  parts  of  the  continent ;  and  the  '  obea  men,'  or 
witch  doctors,  are  found  to-day  along  the  rivers  of  the  colony. 
The  only  thing  that  helped  the  Gospel  in  any  way  was  their 
wretchedness  and  misery. 

"  I  was  interested  in  coming  across  the  record  of  a  contract 
made  by  the  Dutch  Co.  vnth  a  Portuguese  Co.  at  the  Cape  Verde 
Islands,  which  lie  nearly  on  the  same  latitude  as  British  Guiana, 
for  the  supply  of  so  many  '  Angola  slaves,'  so  that  this  verified 
my  own  impressions  on  landing  in  the  colony  that  the  black 
people  came  chiefly  from  the  Bantu  tribes. 

"  Besides  the  descendants  of  the  early  African  slaves,  there 
are  many  Africans  and  their  children  now  in  British  Guiana 
who  were  taken  from  Spanish  and  Portuguese  vessels  and 
liberated  on  the  high  seas  by  British  men-of-war.  Probably 
the  bulk  of  these  were  brought  from  countries  south  of  the 
Congo.  Four  I  met  with  in  two  assemblies  were  able  to  under- 
stand me  when  I  spoke  to  them  in  Umbundu  ;  and  in  answer 
to  my  questions  I  learned  that  one  came  originally  from  the 
Barotse  country,  that  she  was  brought  out  to  Bihe  by  Sen. 
Jao,  Silva  Porto's  slave,  and  then  when  she  was  a  young  woman 
was  taken  to  the  coast  and  sold  and  put  on  board  a  Spanish 
vessel  which  was  captured  by  a  British  man-of-war.  Another 
was  a  native  of  the  Valuimbe  tribe.  Two  came  from  the  Lunda 
country  and  the  fourth  from  Ambacca.  Two  of  the  women 
spoke  Umbundu  perfectly,  and  are  now  giving  lessons  to  those 
who  are  exercised  about  going  to  Africa." 

(Then  follow  descriptions  of  how  the  bitter  cassava  or  manioc 


270     GREAT  BRITAIN,   BRITISH  GUIANA 

and  the  paupau  are  used  as  articles  of  food,  which  method 
Arnot  urges  for  Africa,  also  remarks  upon  the  different  persons 
proposing  to  come  out.) 

"  The  interest  in  Africa  stirred  up  by  the  going  forth  of 
Murrain  and  O'Jon  has,  they  say,  been  a  great  blessing  to  all 
the  assemblies.  The  colony  is  suffering  just  now  from  the  low 
price  of  sugar,  and  still,  with  the  greatest  courage,  they  pray 
the  Lord  to  raise  up  and  send  labourers  to  Africa.  They  collect 
what  they  can,  and  in  some  of  the  poorest  of  houses  I  saw  boxes 
made  up  for  Africa.  On  the  other  hand  those  who  are  coming 
forward  to  go  are  giving  up  something  in  doing  so,  and  are  not 
going  merely  for  the  sake  of  a  livelihood." 

Returning  from  South  America  to  Liverpool,  Arnot  suffered, 
as  he  had  also  done  in  his  previous  residence  at  that  centre,  from 
repeated  malarial  attacks.  Advised  by  a  malarial  expert  to  try 
a  drier  climate  the  home  was  removed  to  Clifton,  near  Bristol. 
Messrs.  Wright  and  Bergin  of  the  Miiller  Orphan  Homes  were 
especially  warm  in  the  welcome  extended  to  Arnot  in  this  new 
centre.  Four  very  happy  years  of  fellowship  with  the  friends 
there  passed  all  too  quickly.  Help  was  given  to  the  large 
assemblies  meeting  at  Alma,  Bethesda,  and  Stokescroft,  and 
also  to  the  smaller  gatherings  in  the  outlying  districts. 

The  change  south  so  improved  Arnot's  health  that  when  in 
1904<  a  party  of  workers  from  the  United  States  and  from 
British  Guiana  set  out  to  pay  their  debt  to  the  heathen  he 
decided  to  join  them  at  Lisbon,  and  to  lead  them  to  the  vacant 
field  in  the  Chokwe  country,  stretching  far  to  the  east  of  Bihe. 
Prior,  however,  to  joining  these  workers,  Arnot  with  his  wife, 
made  a  trip  to  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  contributed  again 
an  increase  of  interest  in  the  cause  of  missions.  His  experiences 
are  described  in  his  diary  as  follows  : 

"  March  l^ith,  1904. — The  last  kiss  and  hug  all  round  ^vith 
our  bairns  was  the  real  farewell.  A  number  of  the  many  friends 
were  at  the  station  to  see  us  off  from  Bristol  at  2.7  p.m. 

"  Miss  Jordan's  farewell  meeting  was  well  attended,  also  the 
farewell  meetings  in  the  Devonshire  House  next  day,  afternoon 
and  evening.  Wednesday  was  spent  in  town  shopping  and 
making  a  few  farewell  visits.  At  4  p.m.  I  visited,  by  invitation, 
Sir  H.  M.  Stanley.  Lady  Stanley  was  very  chatty,  but  poor 
Sir  Henry,  paralysed  on  the  one  side,  was  only  able  to  speak 
feebly,  but  he  seemed  anxious  to  talk  about  Africa  and  was  loud 


AND   EUROPE  271 

in  praise  of  King  Leopold,  and  of  the  purity  of  his  motive  in 
beginning  the  Congo  Free  State,  but  he  could  not  be  held 
responsible  for  all  his  officers.  Lady  Stanley  was  strong, 
however,  in  her  denunciation  of  the  rubber  trading  companies 
who  had  brought  the  Congo  Free  State,  and  her  own  husband's 
work  and  good  name,  into  bad  repute.  Sir  Henry  asked  for 
the  members  of  Dr.  Livingstone's  family,  and  was  surprised 
to  hear  that  Mrs.  F.  Wilson  had  gone  to  Sierra  Leone. 

"  March  17th. — Last  night's  crossing  was  very  pleasant. 
Antwerp  lies  on  the  banks  of  the  Scheldt.  A  tower  is  pointed 
out  where  the  Spanish  Inquisition  executed  its  victims.  The 
city  itself  is  strongly  fortified.  We  went  to  a  good  hotel  and 
visited  all  the  sights.  Rubens'  original  masterpieces  are  to 
be  seen  in  the  Museum  and  in  the  Cathedral,  and  although  I 
am  not  an  art  critic,  there  was  something  unique  about  these 
great  masterpieces  that  must  make  them  stand  out  in  one's 
memory  from  all  the  pictures  that  one  has  seen  or  is  ever  likely 
to  see.  Going  on  to  Brussels  we  passed  near  to  where  Tyndale 
was  strangled  by  the  orders  of  Henry  VIH,  who  promised  at 
the  same  time  to  see  that  a  better  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
was  translated.  According  to  Green's  History,  Tyndale  was 
known  as  belonging  to  the  sect  of  the  '  Brethren.'  Belgium 
has  been  the  scene  of  two  great  battles.  The  heroes  of  both 
were  British — Tyndale  and  Wellington.  Liberty  to  read  the 
Bible  in  our  own  tongue  was  the  fruit  of  the  one,  political 
liberty,  to  some  extent,  the  fruit  of  the  other.  The  one  was 
fought  in  the  shade,  in  closet,  and  by  the  printing  presses  of 
Antwerp.  Tyndale  appeared  to  lose  the  day.  His  light  went 
out  in  the  dark.  He  was  strangled  miserably,  yet  how  great 
and  lasting  his  victory  compared  with  Wellington's. 

"  The  Congo  Free  State  officials  received  me  very  well,  and 
could  not  have  promised  me  more,  and  say  they  will  send  a 
personalite  civile  to  me  to  Lisbon.  Trottie's  (Mrs.  Arnot) 
French  helped  me  in  getting  about.  We  had  meetings  nearly 
every  night,  either  in  the  town  or  the  country  districts  around 
Waterloo,  there  being  a  bright  assembly  at  Braine  I'Alleud, 
WelUngton's  right,  and  another  at  Bransbeek,  his  extreme  left. 
Now  we  have  come  on  to  Charleroi,  and  are  going  out  with  Mr. 
Gaudebert  to  see  a  glass  tumbler  factory. 

"  March  27th,  Sunday. — The  meeting  is  at  Dampremy,  one 
mile  from  Charleroi.     There  are  over  100  in  fellowship,  and 


272     GREAT   BRITAIN,   BRITISH  GUIANA 

attendance  about  250,  and  that  in  a  grossly  Roman  Catholic 
neighbourhood.  Only  a  few  hundred  yards  distant  from  the 
hall,  built  in  the  garden  of  a  Christian,  there  is  the  shrine  of  a 
saint  that  works  miracles,  and  we  looked  in  and  saw  a  great 
many  garments,  underclothing,  hanging  up  on  the  wall,  not 
to  be  disinfected,  but  to  be  infected  with  \artue  and  stored  with 
health —  salted,  as  the  Africans  would  say,  with  good.  The 
Christians  seemed  to  be  all  fairly  well  off,  and  some  were 
intelligent  men.    They  collect  about  £6  per  week. 

"  March  2Sth. — We  took  farewell  with  M.  and  Madame 
Gaudebert  and  left  for  Homburg,  Frankfort,  at  two  in  the 
morning,  via  Cologne.  We  were  turned  out  at  five  o'clock  to 
have  our  luggage  overhauled  at  the  German  frontier.  Later 
on  we  arrived  at  Cologne,  and  had  two  hours  to  spare.  The 
Cathedral  and  the  Rhine  are  the  two  great  sights.  It  was  Holy 
week,  and  many  were  bowing  down  to  the  images  of  saints  and 
crosses  all  round.  In  Belgium  we  saw  processions  of  '  sons  of 
Voltaire  '  escorting  bands  of  children  to  the  temples  of  science 
to  be  initiated  as  infidels,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  which  was 
the  sadder  sight. 

"  The  train  journey  up  the  Rhine  was  very  beautiful,  ruined 
castles  on  every  hill-top,  and  modern  fortresses  abounded,  and 
the  river  was  grand,  just  like  the  Lualaba  as  it  passes  through 
the  Garenganze,    Vineyards  covered  the  slopes. 

"  At  Frankfort  we  changed  for  Homburg.  ...  I  had  two 
meetings  here,  a  very  good  attendance  and  signs  of  awakening 
exist,  they  say,  over  all  that  part  of  Germany. 

"  March  29th. — W^e  came  on  to  Krishona,  an  institution  for 
the  training  of  missionaries  that  has  been  carried  on  for  forty 
years  on  faith  lines.  Herr  Rapard  is  quite  a  G.  Miiller,  very 
warm  and  helpful.  We  met  with  some  interesting  people.  Mr. 
Wartz,  the  Secretary  of  the  famous  Basle  Mission,  met  us  at 
the  railway  station  and  took  us  to  dinner.  When  at  Krishona 
we  had  our  first  view  of  the  Alps,  and  slept  with  our  window 
open  to  the  snow-capped  peaks.  Our  next  night  was  spent  at 
Biemie.  The  train  passed  through  lovely  mountain  scenery, 
and  over  dizzy  chasms,  and  one  grand  waterfall.  The  meetings 
at  Bicnne  were  very  hearty.  On  Saturday  we  visited  Grindel- 
wald,  close  to  the  Vaterhorn.  It  was  the  first  warm  spring  day 
after  a  good  deal  of  snow  and  long  winter,  so  we  were  favoured 
above  many  in  seeing  a  grand  display  of  avalanches,  a  rare 


AND   EUROPE  273 

sight,  over  forty  torrents  of  snow  and  ice  rolled  doAvn  the 
mountains  and  over  precipices,  sounding  like  thunder  in  the 
chasms  below. 

"  Sunday,  April  3rd. — Large  meetings  at  Bienne.  On 
Monday  we  came  on  to  Vevey,  and  Tuesday  to  Montreux, 
where  we  met  with  a  regular  colony  of  English  people.  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Neatby  among  others.  The  rest  of  our  time  will  be  taken 
up  with  visits  around  the  Lake  of  Geneva.  Sunday  I  spend  at 
Geneva,  and  Monday  Trottie  will  start  for  home.  On  Tuesday 
night  I  go  on  to  Barcelona,  Madrid,  Oporto  and  Lisbon." 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  FOURTH  JOURNEY 

ON  arriving  at  Bihe,  in  August,  1904,  Arnot,  and  the  party 
with  him,  had  a  great  welcome  from  the  natives.  Many 
still  remembered  him. 
Writing  to  Mrs.  Arnot  from  Chindunda,  July  23rd,  he  said  : 
"  We  are  now  six  days  across  the  Kwanza.  This  is  a  wonderful 
country  we  are  passing  through  for  variety  in  flowers  and 
butterflies.  As  yet  it  is  quite  unexplored.  I  have  crossed  large 
rivers  that  have  no  mention  in  the  latest  Portuguese  maps. 
The  ground  orchids  are  much  in  evidence  and  all  different 
from  those  on  the  Benguella  road.  Some  of  the  butterflies 
too  are  so  pretty  that  I  will  keep  them  by  me,  I  think,  safely 
packed  in  tins,  and  bring  them  home  to  the  boys.  As  the 
district  is  new  some  may  be  valuable.  ...  I  am  not  the 
hardened  African  I  had  hoped  to  be  after  my  long  stay  at  home. 
I  have  had  two  turns  of  fever  and  ague  since  crossing  the 
Kwanza,  the  last  with  rather  a  sharp  temperature,  rose  to 
104.5,  but  it  responded  so  quickly  and  well  to  treatment  that 
I  am  not  a  bit  cast  down  over  it.  I  must  have  been  inoculated 
at  Lucalla ;  there  are  no  mosquitoes  this  side  of  the  Kwanza, 
and  regular  dosing  with  quinine  will  work  the  microbes  out. 
Still  I  was  a  little  disappointed  when  I  found  the  temperature 
persistently  going  up,  and  I  will  not  likely  push  on  to  the 
Chibokwe  as  I  had  half  hoped  to  do. 

"  We  have  had  meetings  with  the  men  around  the  fire,  and 
afterwards  Kashinda  has  come  into  my  tent  for  a  reading 
lesson.  So  I  am  trying  to  be  both  you  and  me  this  time.  Before, 
you  did  the  teaching  and  I  the  talking.  Now  all  seems  so 
different.  I  have  no  care  with  the  men.  The  road  is  perfectly 
safe  and  peaceful,  and  I  can  give  my  whole  time  and  thought 
to  the  work,  sending  the  two  Christians  to  visit  the  villages  and 
to  repeat  what  they  have  been  taught.  It  is  very  delightful. 
The  other  day  a  number  of  the  natives  of  the  district  attended 

274 


THE   FOURTH   JOURNEY  275 

the  meeting  in  camp,  and  came  in  the  morning  and  thanked  me 
for  '  preaching  forgiveness.  We  slept  soundly,'  they  added, 
'  after  hearing  your  words.'  This  whole  district  has  never  been 
touched  or  visited  by  anyone.  There  are  three  tribes  between 
the  Vandulu  and  the  Kwanza,  and  no  missionary  has  so  much 
as  visited  their  villages  at  any  time.  Surely  the  '  judgment 
that  must  begin  at  the  house  of  God  '  will  have  something  to  do 
with  these  un visited — unevangelised  ? 

''''  Sikado  {within  tzoo  days  of  Ochilonda),  July  Slst,  1904. — 
Sanders  persistently  visits  around  all  these  villages  every 
three  months  or  so.  We  came  on  yesterday  passing  six  or 
eight  villages,  and  it  is  remarkable  to  see  how  the  people  have 
advanced  in  cleanliness  and  clothing.  You  would  hardly 
believe  it.  To-day  we  have  had  quite  a  large  meeting  with 
our  men  and  villagers.  Sanders  says,  in  one  word,  the  great 
encouragement  lies  in  the  fact  that  Africans  are  now  being  used 
to  the  conversion  of  Africans. 

"  The  whole  district  within  a  radius  of  twelve  miles  is  linked 
up  by  well-made  roads  and  bridges,  allowing  of  bicycle  and 
donkey  travelling  by  night  or  day.  These  roads  lead  to  25 
schoolrooms  and  preaching  stations,  all  built  and  supported 
by  the  native  church.  And  now  the  Christians  are  building 
two-roomed  rest  houses  for  the  use  of  the  European  missionaries 
as  they  come  along.  The  central  meeting  room  holds  over  800 
people,  and  on  special  occasionsit  is  generally  full  'inside  and  out.' 

"  Well,  August  3rd,  we  arrived  in  Owhalondo  and  Ochilonda, 
and  what  a  welcome  !  Strings  of  boys  and  men  and  women  ; 
then  the  volleys  ;  then  a  hymn  in  the  bush  ;  then  a  long 
procession  formed  up,  and  on  we  marched  ;  I  on  Mr.  Lane's 
donkey.  The  Murrains  do  look  well.  .  .  .  The  family  sang 
us  some  hymns  of  welcome,  quite  touching.  The  hymns  had 
been  specially  learned  for  the  occasion  and  the  schoolroom 
done  up  with  mottoes  and  welcomes.  The  villagers  at  Owha- 
londo gathered  round  the  spot  where  we,  that  is  you  and  I, 
pitched  our  tent  when  on  our  way  to  the  Ondulu  country,  and 
one  said,  '  I  was  standing  just  here  '  ;  another,  '  And  I  was 
standing  across  the  river,'  and  so  on  and  so  on.  Then  several 
of  the  leading  boys  are  our  old  Kuanjulula  and  kitchen  boys, 
Sai  Wimbo  among  them.  Best  of  all  the  work  goes  on.  Three 
have  been  converted  the  last  few  days.  ...  I  am  in  Hill's 
old  house.    He  has  a  large  garden  enclosure. 


276  THE   FOURTH  JOURNEY 

"  You  speak  of  my  being  in  the  midst  of  great  African 
problems,  etc.  But  all  seems  very  easy  and  simple  now.  Men 
come  forward  freely  for  carrying,  both  to  the  coast  and  inland. 
Lane  is  quite  capable  and  quite  at  home  in  all  transport  matters. 
Then  the  Portuguese  could  not  be  pleasanter,  and  taking  it  all 
round,  the  old  difficult  times  seem  to  be  passed.  Or  perhaps 
I  have  learned  to  take  things  easier.  At  any  rate,  I  quite  enjoy 
the  insects  and  beetles  and  butterflies,  and  wish  I  could  pack 
all  home  to  the  children.  To-night  the  air  is  alive  with  flying 
ants  coming  up  in  mj^raids  out  of  the  ground.  Won't  the  hens 
have  a  feed  to-morrow  ! 

"  Ochilonda,  Bihe,  I4:th  Aug.,  1904. — Well  !  one  matter  had 
to  be  decided  before  going  to  the  fort,  and  that  was,  Who  was 
to  go  on  to  the  Chibokwe  with  our  brethren.  Of  course,  I  was 
willing  to  go,  and  was  planning  to  go  ;  but  Lane  had  been 
hinting  that  he  thought  he  ought  to  go.  At  last  he  came  out 
with  it  definitely  that  he  would  like  to  go  and  escort  the  party, 
and  then  go  and  visit  Kavungu  and  Kazombo  and  return  again, 
so  I  gave  way  to  him,  and  now  I  am  settled  here  for  the  rainy 
season.  I  know  this  will  be  a  great  relief  to  you,  and  I  am  so 
glad  to  think  that  I  am  able  to  relieve  Lane,  and  allow  him  to 
go  on  with  the  party,  and  it  will  be  a  cause  of  thanksgiving  if  a 
beginning  is  made  among  the  Chibokwe. 

"  Sept.  Uh,  1904. — We  have  had  a  busy  day  again,  and  the 
problem  is  to  know  what  to  do  with  the  people.  Our  buildings 
are  all  too  small.    I  am  improving  daily  in  my  speaking. 

"  Sept.  6th. — The  kindergarten  for  the  little  blacks  is  great 
fun.  They  do  enjoy  it  and  laugh  at  one  another's  mistakes. 
The  rule  is  that  all  must  wash  hands  and  face,  and  a  basin  was 
provided,  if  you  please,  but  after  washing  their  dirty  hands, 
all  in  the  same  water,  Miss  Gammon  found  the  little  wretches 
drinking  the  water. 

"  Some  of  the  young  men  who  were  converted  when  we  were 
at  Kuan  are  now  useful  Christians.  Then  you  had  only  three 
or  four  girls  under  a  tree  to  teach — now  there  are  hundreds  of 
women  and  children  coming  to  the  schools  and  meetings. 

"  Oct.  15th,  1904. — Last  Sunday  we  were  cheered  with  three 
new  converts,  one  man  and  two  women.  It  was  a  very  happy 
day.  The  morning  meetings  are  most  spiritual  and  helpful. 
The  Christian  natives  take  part  freely  and  never  make  mistakes. 
.  .  .  My  days  are  very  regular  when  I  am  at  home.     In  the 


THE   FOURTH   JOURNEY  277 

forenoon  I  look  after  the  garden.  Then  school  in  the  afternoon, 
and  if  I  am  not  taking  the  evening  meeting  I  spend  my  evenings 
alone,  reading,  and  often  finish  up  with  a  quiet  game  of  chess, 
copying  some  of  the  games  given  in  The  Times.  .  .  .  All  I  long 
for,  all  I  claim  for  our  children  is  God's  blessing.  It  makcth 
rich  and  addeth  no  sorrow.  And  if  I  can  only  leave  to  them  an 
example  of  subjection  to  God's  will,  what  a  fortune  !  I  don't 
mean  subjection  in  the  stoical  sense,  but  after  Christ's  example, 
'  I  do  delight  to  do  Thy  will,  O  God.  Yes  !  Thy  law  is  within 
my  heart.'  ...  I  am  getting  on  with  my  afternoon  class,  and 
have  started  an  evening  class  in  one  of  my  rooms,  two  large 
tables,  two  lamps  and  chairs  all  round.  Some  writing  with  pen 
and  ink,  others  at  sums,  and  I  am  getting  them  to  ask  questions 
on  portions  of  Scripture  that  are  difficult  to  them,  and  so  the 
evenings  pass  on  until  9.30.  I  thoroughly  enjoy  settling  down 
to  this  regular  station  work,  and  must  conclude  now  that  my 
place  is  quietly  to  stay  on  here  and  not  go  inland.  .  .  . 

Sunday  evening,  Oct.  SOth. — A  happy  day.  The  morning 
meeting  most  spiritual  and  helpful.  Then  my  old  men's  class. 
About  twenty  of  the  chiefs  and  headmen  around  gathered  in 
my  room.  The  forenoon  gospel  service,  packed  out  before  I 
got  there  with  grown  up  men  and  women  in  equal  numbers, 
all  looking  so  clean  and  well  clothed  compared  with  the  old 
days.  Mr.  Lane  and  I  spoke.  A  number  were  standing  out- 
side, and  they  had  come  as  usual  from  groups  of  villages  all 
around.  It  is  most  impressive  to  see  them  break  up  and 
leave  for  home  in  little  groups  in  all  directions.  Then  we 
divided  up  and  took  meetings  in  the  afternoon  in  four  differ- 
ent villages  all  round.  .  .  .  Wc  had  such  a  helpful  meeting  this 
morning.  These  young  men  do  take  hold  of  the  Scriptures. 
More  intelligent  words  one  seldom  hears  at  home. 

"  How  to  teach  the  native  Christian  honest  trades  is  a  great 
problem.  One  effort  in  this  direction  greatly  interested  me, 
because  of  its  far-reaching  consequences.  The  art  of  sawing 
planks  out  of  trees  is  of  course  the  foundation  of  all  carpentry 
in  a  new  country,  and  many  of  the  young  men  have  been  taught 
the  use  of  the  pit  saw.  And  several  have  set  up  as  rough  door, 
window  and  furniture  makers.  But  making  coffins  gradually 
grew  to  be  the  most  profitable  branch  of  these  little  businesses. 
The  Ovimbundu  are  accustomed  to  make  much  of  funerals. 
The  body  is  usually  kept  for  weeks  enclosed  in  a  faggot  of 


278  THE   FOURTH   JOURNEY 

sticks  until  quantities  of  beer  have  been  brewed  and  friends 
have  had  time  to  assemble  from  a  distance.  Then  with  feasting 
and  drinking  and  firing  of  guns  the  body  is  carried  down  to  the 
plain  or  valley,  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  two  men.  The  chief 
fetish  doctor  then  asks  questions  of  the  corpse,  '  How  did  he 
come  by  his  death  ?  '  And  if  by  witchcraft,  '  On  which  side  of 
the  family  was  the  ^^dtch  to  be  found,'  '  man,'  '  woman,'  or 
'  young,'  etc.,  until  by  jerks  and  violent  swingings  from  side 
to  side,  when  the  two  men  who  carry  the  body  pore  "with  perspi- 
ration from  fatigue  and  excitement,  the  dead  man  answers  the 
questions,  so  that  usually  the  witch  or  wizard  is  smelt  out 
before  the  drunken  feast  is  over.  Now  all  this  means  expense, 
and  often  ruin  to  the  relatives,  and  the  happy  idea  had  taken 
hold  of  the  heathen  mind  that  it  would  be  more  economical,  and 
certainly  not  less  respectable,  to  be  buried  in  a  white  man's 
coffin.  The  Christian  young  men  who  found  employment  in 
this  way  were  also  expected  to  bring  the  box  along  and 
finish  the  matter  by  holding  a  religious  service  at  the  grave. 
In  this  way  the  Gospel  has  been  carried  into  strongholds  of 
heathenism." 

Having  left  a  family  of  six  children,  with  the  mother,  in 
England,  Arnot's  correspondence  now  included  letters  to  these  : 
Rachel,  Nigel,  Winnie,  Cyril,  Aleck  and  Arthur.  As  these 
present  us  with  another  side,  both  of  his  character  and  exper- 
iences, we  give  the  following  extracts,  spread  over  the  period 
covered  by  the  above  record  : 

"  June  \st,  1904. — Wake  at  5,  rub  my  eyes,  think  for  a 
little  before  I  get  up  and  say,  '  Yes  !  This  is  the  day  we  sail 
away  to  Africa.'  I  wish  everybody  was  going  with  me,  every- 
body at  home  I  mean.  How  happy  Noah  must  have  been  when 
God  told  him  that  his  wife  and  all  his  children  were  to  be  mth 
him  in  the  ark.  But  I  had  to  get  up,  for  the  man  was  coming 
for  my  boxes,  and  such  a  nice  man  too.  He  was  afraid  that 
some  of  my  boxes  were  not  tight  enough  so  he  brought  some 
strange  string  that  he  said  the  King  uses  to  tie  his  boxes  with. 
You  see  Portugal  is  a  little  country  and  everyone  knows  what 
the  King  does,  where  he  gets  his  boots  made,  and  the  shop  he 
goes  to  for  pencils  and  indiarubber. 

"  There  is  a  Society  in  Lisbon  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty 
to  animals  ;  and  I  read  in  the  papers  of  a  Portuguese  who 
jumped  out  of  the  car  to  save  the  life  of  a  cat  that  was  run  over, 


THE   FOURTH  JOURNEY  279 

and  how  the  cat  did  not  know  that  he  was  coming  to  save  his 
hfe,  and  the  cat  bit  him,  and  the  kind  Portuguese  died." 

After  leaving  Loanda  on  June  25th,  1904.  "  It  is  great 
fun  watching  the  natives  from  the  interior  when  they  see  the 
train.  They  look  very  frightened  and  come  nearer  so  long  as 
the  engine  does  not  move,  but  whenever  the  engine  whistles  and 
begins  to  move  they  rush  off  pell-mell,  tumbling  one  over 
another  in  their  flight.  Others,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  dance  round 
it  as  if  it  were  a  god,  but  that  is  only  when  it  is  standing  still. 
If  it  gives  just  a  little  screech,  off  they  dash  for  their  lives. 

"  July  8th. — This  morning  I  thought  I  would  take  some 
ointment  out  of  my  medicine  box  to  rub  on  my  rusty  throat. 
The  ointment  was  in  a  tube  covered  with  blue  paper.  '  Oh ! 
Yes  !  here  it  is,'  but  I  had  not  put  on  my  specs  and  I  took  up 
instead  a  tube  of  '  stickatine  '  and  was  just  about  to  rub  my 
throat  all  over  with  the  dreadful  sticky  stuff  ;  then  I  would 
have  been  in  a  fine  state,  and  my  shirt  and  collar  would  have 
stuck  on  so  beautifully,  just  like  Winnie's  bought  dolls,  and  I 
laughed  so  much  at  my  mistake  that  I  coughed  up  all  the 
hoarseness. 

"  At  Pungo  Andongo  we  were  shown  the  footprint  of  the 
ancient  Linga  tribe.  By  the  side  of  the  Queen's  footprint  we 
were  shown  the  footprint  of  her  dog,  and  another  of  her  child, 
but  of  course  all  this  is  superstition.  There  are  many  human 
footprints  in  the  hard  path  that  could  not  have  been  carved  and 
were  evidently  made  when  the  rock  was  soft  like  mud,  although 
it  is  hard  rock  now.  I  took  a  piece  of  paper  and  rubbed  over 
it  with  a  pencil,  and  here  you  can  see  an  exact  copy  of  the 
mysterious  footprint. 

"  We  stayed  at  an  American  Mission  Station.  This  Station 
was  opened  by  Bishop  Taylor  when  he  was  an  old  man  of  80. 
One  day  a  chief  came  to  visit  from  the  interior  and  the  only  bed 
that  Bishop  Taylor  had  to  offer  him  was  one  in  his  own  room, 
which  was  a  large  room,  and  the  Bishop's  bed  was  next  the  door. 
The  chief  was  very  nervous  and  could  not  sleep,  but  lay  and 
watched  the  old  Bishop.  When  he  knelt  down  to  pray,  his  long 
white  beard  nearly  touched  the  ground.  The  chief  trembled 
and  thought, '  Now  has  come  the  day  of  my  death.  This  is  not 
a  man  but  a  spirit.'  When  Bishop  Taylor  had  finished  praying 
he  got  up  and  took  his  false  teeth  out  and  put  them  in  a  glass. 
At  this  the  chief  trembled  still  more.    But  when  the  Bishop 


280  THE   FOURTH   JOURNEY 

took  off  his  wig  and  put  it  on  a  chair,  the  chief  was  nearly 
beside  himself  with  terror,  and  as  soon  as  the  way  to  the  door 
was  clear  he  rushed  out  saying  he  was  going  home  to  return 
again  with  a  present.  But  he  never  came  back,  and  told  every- 
one he  met  that  he  had  seen  a  spirit.  He  had  seen  him  '  take 
his  bones  out  of  his  mouth,  and  then  take  off  his  head  and  put 
it  on  a  chair.' 

"  Although  I  have  a  hammock,  and  men  to  carry  me,  I  walk 
a  good  deal.  I  carry  a  butterfly  net  and  catch  butterflies.  .  .  . 
The  man  who  carries  in  front  of  my  hammock  is  like  the  look- 
out man  on  board  ship.  He  warns  the  man  who  carries  behind. 
If  there  is  a  stump  in  front  about  as  high  as  his  knee  he  sings 
out,  '  k'ongolo,'  meaning  '  knee  high.'  If  the  stump  is  higher 
then  he  shouts  out  '  k'ovimo  yongombe,'  which  means  '  to  the 
chest  of  an  ox.'  If  the  stump  should  be  quite  small  he  will  say 
'  ombeo,'  meaning  '  a  tortoise,'  and  the  man  behind  answers 
back  to  the  man  in  front  in  his  own  way,  as  for  instance, 
'  Tortoise  is  nice.  It  makes  good  sauce.'  The  carriers  seldom 
get  cross  with  one  another. 

"  We  had  some  nice  meetings  at  Bihe  with  the  natives.    One 
native  preacher  said  that  if  a  man  built  a  fine  house  he  did  not- 
allow  a  pig  to  live  in  it.    And  so  heaven  was  God's  fine  house, 
and  God  would  not  allow  pigs  to  live  in  it.     Then  I  thought 
of  the  hymn : 

'  There  is  a  city  bright, 
Closed  are  its  gates  to  sin.* 

"  Oct.  Qth,  1904. — I  am  sending  home  a  box  of  butterflies, 
about  100.  Many  are  alike,  but  these  you  could  sell  or  exchange. 
Do  not  open  them  yourself.  You  will  break  their  legs  and  things 
and  that  takes  all  their  value  away.  Some  are  Avorth  pounds. 
.  .  .  There  are  some  very  large  butterflies  here  with  four  tails. 
They  are  as  big  as  plates  and  fly  so  high  that  I  can't  reach  them. 

"  I  am  writing  in  the  early  morning,  big  frogs  are  croaking 
in  the  brook  at  the  foot  of  the  garden,  canaries  are  singing  in 
the  peach  trees,  humming  birds  are  dancing  round  the  banana 
flowers  close  to  the  door.  I  think  I  can  hear  you  saying,  '  Oh  ! 
how  nice.  Wouldn't  I  like  to  go  to  Africa.'  But  wait  a  bit. 
I  have  killed  four  snakes  in  my  garden  since  I  came  here.  That 
is  the  other  side,  isn't  it  ?  Still  they  always  run  away  from 
people,  and  we  never  hear  of  the  natives  being  bitten,  although 


THE   FOURTH   JOURNEY  281 

they  always  run  about  with  bare  feet.  The  people  are  very  nice 
and  quiet  too,  and  always  so  pleased  to  see  me  when  I  call  on 
them,  and  they  ask  for  all  my  children,  and  who  followed  at  the 
back  of  Ray's  neck,  and  who  followed  again  at  the  back  of 
Nigel's  neck,  and  so  on  down  to  baby  Arthur.  He,  poor  boy, 
won't  know  me  when  I  come  again.  He  will  run  away,  thinking 
I  am  a  monster.  Never  mind,  I  will  soon  talk  him  over.  Oh  ! 
two  such  lovely  young  parrots  were  brought  here  for  sale,  and 
so  tame.  Then  I  had  an  owl,  and  old  owl  died,  and  there  was 
no  person  mth  a  shovel  to  dig  old  owl's  grave." 

Writing  to  Winnie  on  her  tenth  birthday  Arnot  referred  to 
the  letter  received  during  his  third  journey,  when  on  the  Ilala, 
on  Lake  Nyassa,  and  said  :  "  The  letter  contained  the  telegram 
that  told  me  you  were  born,  but  I  thought  you  were  a  boy  ! 
And  it  was  some  months  after  that  I  found  out  rwy  mistake, 
and  learned  that  you  were  a  girl  after  all. 

"  Dec.  1st. — I  have  just  heard  that  my  old  boy  Dick  is  on 
his  way  to  Bihe.  He  followed  me  of  his  own  accord  from  the 
Barotse  country  and  was  my  faithful  servant  when  wandering 
about  all  alone.  When  I  left  the  Garcnganze  country  in  1888 
I  left  him  there  with  Mr.  Swann,  but  the  first  person  mother 
and  I  saw  when  sailing  up  to  the  pier  at  Benguella,  in  the  little 
boat  that  took  us  from  the  steamer,  was  Dick.  He  had  travelled 
out  1200  miles  to  meet  us.  We  left  him  in  Bihe  when  we  came 
home,  to  his  great  distress.  But  when  he  heard  that  I  had  gone 
out  to  Lake  Mweru  he  travelled  all  the  way  from  Bihe  with  his 
wife  and  two  children,  hoping  to  find  me,  but  I  had  returned 
home.  So  he  remained  there  with  Mr.  Crawford  until  now. 
And  here  he  is  on  his  way  to  Bihe  to  meet  me  with  his  wife  and 
two  children.  How  glad  I  ^^^ll  be  to  see  him.  His  life  Avould 
make  a  story  of  how  faithful  an  African  can  be.  When  Rachel 
was  born  Dick  got  so  excited  that  he  started  to  dance  a  war 
dance.  At  another  time  when  mother  was  ill  Dick  ran  seventy 
miles  in  a  day  and  a  night  to  tell  Uncle  Walter. 

"  Bihe,  March  7th,  1905. — When  out  walking  about  looking 
for  the  mail  men  one  evening  I  came  across  a  bundle  of  grass, 
and  when  I  kicked  it,  it  looked  like  a  bird's  nest.  Then  I  took 
it  up  and  examined  it,  and  could  find  no  hole  opening  inside, 
only  a  little  hollow  on  the  top  for  a  bird  to  sit  on.  So  I  pulled 
the  bundle  of  grass  to  pieces,  and  there  was  the  nest  inside  and 
a  young  bird  gaping  away.    A  little  closer  study  showed  how 


282  THE   FOURTH  JOURNEY 

cleverly  the  passage  was  covered  by  a  little  trap-door  arrange- 
ment that  sprang  to  with  the  force  of  some  stiff  bits  of  grass 
which  acted  like  springs,  so  that  neither  mouse  nor  snake  could 
get  in.  I  was  sorry  then  that  we  had  spoiled  it.  But  this  nest 
had  really  two  stories,  one  for  the  hen  bird  to  sit  on  her  nest 
and  one  for  the  cock  bird  to  sit  and  sing  songs  and  talk  bits  of 
chat  to  while  away  the  time  when  the  eggs  were  hatching. 

"  A  black  boy,  a  great  friend  of  mine,  said  quite  earnestly 
that  he  wanted  to  trust  Jesus  now,  and  I  said,  '  Why  ?  '  He 
said,  because  Jesus  was  standing  at  the  door  of  his  heart 
knocking.  I  asked  him  how  he  knew  that,  and  he  said  because 
he  had  a  pain  there — pointing  to  his  inside — and  he  knew  that 
it  was  Jesus  wanting  to  save  him. 

"  I  must  tell  you  of  an  adventure  I  had  with  a  flying  serpent. 
Hearing  a  great  noise  among  the  hens  I  knew  that  a  serpent 
was  trying  to  catch  one  of  them  for  the  hens  make  a  different 
noise  when  a  hawk  appears,  or  a  dog,  or  a  serpent.  I  suppose 
it's  their  own  language  that  they  speak.  So  I  left  my  writing, 
took  my  gun  and  ran  out  to  shoot  the  snake,  but  by  this  time 
a  crowd  of  little  birds  had  come  to  help  the  hens,  and  they  all 
together  were  giving  Mr.  Serpent  such  a  scolding  that  I  am  sure 
he  must  have  felt  very  wicked  indeed.  I  thought  these  hens 
and  birds  had  more  sense  than  Eve  had,  even  although  she  was 
our  first  mother.  The  birds  grew  more  excited  when  they  saw 
me,  and  flew  around  the  bush  where  the  serpent  was  hiding, 
pointing  him  out.  At  last  I  saw  his  wdcked  eye  glancing  through 
the  leaves.  Then  his  body,  which  was  of  a  fiery,  copper  colour. 
'  Don't  go  near  him,'  shouted  my  one-eyed  boy.  '  He  is  very 
angry  and  very  poisonous.'  Indeed,  from  his  copper,  fiery 
colour  I  felt  sure  that  this  serpent  belonged  to  the  same  family 
of  serpents  that  bit  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  and 
the  brazen  or  copper  serpent  that  Moses  made  and  placed  on 
a  pole  was  intended  to  be  like  them.  But  my  one-eyed  boy 
was  getting  quite  excited  by  this  time.  '  Shoot  it  !  Shoot  it  !  ' 
he  cried,  '  or  it  will  fly  at  you.'  '  What  nonsense  !  '  I  said. 
'  Don't  be  frightened.  It  has  no  wings.'  '  Oh,  yes  it  has  !  '  he 
said.  '  It  has  wings.  Kill  it,  and  you  will  see.'  So  I  pulled 
the  trigger.  Bang  went  the  gun.  A  small  bullet  had  gone 
right  through  his  head,  and  it  was  soon  quite  dead.  Then  with 
long  sticks  we  poked  him  out  of  the  tree,  and  sure  enough  the 
serpent  had  wings,  for  all  along  the  sides  of  his  body  the  skin 


THE   FOURTH   JOURNEY  283 

projected  like  a  long  fin.  This  long  skin  wing  is  only  used  when 
the  flying  snake  is  up  a  tree,  but  he  could  not  make  any  use 
of  it  when  lying  on  the  ground.  There  is  a  flying  squirrel  that 
has  skin-wings  stretched  between  his  hind  and  fore  legs  on 
either  side.  But  both  the  snake  and  the  squirrel  have  to  climb 
the  tree  first,  like  other  snakes  and  squirrels,  and  then  fly  down. 

"  This  month  I  have  a  story  about  a  little  boy,  Kasinda,  and 
his  sisters.  They  had  no  father,  and  their  mother  was  sold  by 
the  people  of  the  village  because  they  said  she  was  a  witch. 
Well,  Kasinda  was  only  a  little  boy  and  didn't  know  anything, 
but  he  grcAv  to  be  a  man,  and  when  he  heard  of  God  and  of 
Jesus  Christ  he  was  converted.  His  hard,  heathen  heart  was 
broken,  and  a  new  heart  began  to  grow  little  by  little  into  the 
places  where  the  broken  pieces  were,  and  he  began  to  think  of 
his  mother  and  that  she  was  a  slave.  So  he  said  to  his  sister 
that  it  would  be  nice  to  redeem  their  mother,  and  she  said  that 
it  would  be  nice,  and  they  began  to  work  hard  and  save  their 
money.  When  Kasinda  had  forty  yards  of  calico  saved  up, 
which  would  be  as  much  as  ten  bed  sheets,  and  a  pig  that 
Kasinda's  sister  had  been  feeding,  he  started  away  to  redeem 
his  mother  from  the  man  that  had  bought  her.  But  Kasinda 
found  that  he  had  hardened  his  heart,  like  Pharaoh,  and  would 
not  let  her  go,  and  looked  with  scorn  on  the  forty  yards  and 
the  pig.  Kasinda  then  came  back  to  his  village,  and  his  neigh- 
bours said  that  he  should  go  to  the  judge,  who  would  put  the 
cruel  slave  owner  into  prison.  But  Kasinda  said,  '  No  !  I  will 
not  go  to  the  judge.  I  will  pray  to  God  to  soften  his  heart.' 
When  one  said  to  Kasinda  that  that  would  be  very  difficult 
for  God  to  do,  Kasinda  said,  '  Has  God  not  softened  my 
heart,  making  me  to  love  my  mother  more  than  forty  yards 
of  calico  and  a  pig  ?  God  can  soften  this  man's  heart  too.' 
So  Kasinda  gave  himself  several  days'  rest,  when  he  prayed 
every  day.  Then  he  started  on  the  long  three  days'  journey, 
without  adding  any  more  to  what  he  had  taken  before.  This 
time  to  his  great  joy  the  man  said,'  The  price  is  enough.  Take 
your  mother  and  go.'  And  so  Kasinda  returned  to  his  village 
with  his  mother,  in  triumph,  and  now  he  is  building  a  home  for 
her. 

"  Dec.  5ih. — I  have  your  letter  telling  of  your  having  been 
to  Over,  and  ha\ang  left  your  overcont  and  of  your  having  to 
cycle  over  to  Over  to  get  your  overcoat. 


284  THE   FOURTH  JOURNEY 

"  Uh  Feb.,  1905. — Do  you  do  any  fret  -  work,  or  perhaps 
you  are  content  with  fretting  mother,  and  Rachel,  and  Winnie, 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  people  ?  The  last  thing  I  killed  was  a 
puff-adder,  a  very  deadly  snake,  but  very  lazy  and  sleepy. 
But  this  has  been  such  a  month  for  extraordinary  animals. 
First,  a  flying  serpent ;  second,  an  ant-eater ;  third,  a  tree- 
climbing  otter  with  hands  like  men  ;  fourth,  a  skin  brought 
to  me  of  an  animal  with  a  head  and  tail  like  a  fox,  forepaws 
like  a  small  ant  bear,  and  hind  feet  like  an  antelope  ;  fifth,  a 
skin  of  a  boa  constrictor,  twelve  feet  long  ;  sixth,  the  puff- 
adder,  which  I  have  skinned.  So  you  will  have  to  start  a 
museum,  for  I  mean  to  send  all  these  things  home.  .  .  .  All 
the  village  dogs  are  barking  furiously.  Of  course  I  know  an 
old  hyena  is  walking  around.  I  wish  the  trap  was  here.  I 
would  soon  snap  his  paw.  But  I  have  caught  such  a  number 
of  rats  with  a  small  spring  trap ;  I  find  that  if  I  wash  the  trap 
after  each  rat,  the  others  walk  in." 

Arnot  returned  from  the  above  journey  via  Broken  Hill  and 
the  Cape,  reaching  England  in  August,  1905. 

During  the  year  and  four  months  he  was  away  from  home, 
Mr.  Wright,  of  the  Bristol  Orphan  Homes,  had  passed  away, 
and  Arnot  was  asked,  on  his  return,  to  assist  Mr.  Bergin  with 
the  directorate.  This  he  did  for  a  period  of  eight  months.  Then 
Dr.  Bergin,  who  had  been  seriously  ill  for  a  long  period  after 
his  return  from  China,  sufficiently  recovered  so  as  to  be  able 
to  help  his  father  in  the  conduct  of  the  homes.  This  set  Arnot 
free  to  do  what  he  had  often  planned  to  do,  viz.  to  visit  all  the 
stations  in  Central  Africa  which  had  been  started  since  1889. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


THE    FIFTH    JOURNEY 


ARNOT  started  again  for  Africa  in  November,  1906, 
leaving  his  wife  and  family  at  Bristol.  Arriving  at 
Loanda,  in  December,  he  had  several  interviews  with 
the  Governor-General  of  Portuguese  West  Africa,  and  with 
the  help  of  the  British  Consul  was  able  to  do  some  useful 
work  with  regard  to  the  registering  of  the  Mission  Stations, 
and  Government  recognition  of  the  position  of  the  natives. 
Letters  awaited  him  at  Loanda,  telling  of  an  unusual  amount 
of  sickness  amongst  the  missionaries  in  Bih6,  and  of  the  more 
serious  illness  of  Dr.  Sparks  who  had  preceded  him  on  this  visit 
by  several  months. 

Proceeding  from  Loanda  by  the  Portuguese  railway  to 
Lucalla,  his  sole  companion  in  the  train  for  a  time  was  an  old 
leprous  woman.  Arnot  wrote  :  "  The  Portuguese  are  not  tied 
down  with  too  many  regulations  ;  natives  suffering  from  all 
sorts  of  diseases  travel  freely,  and  a  trader  is  allowed  to  fill 
up  a  compartment  with  slaves  roped  together.  Looking  at 
this  poor  woman,  and  feeling  the  discomfort  of  her  presence, 
made  me  thankful  for  all,  who,  for  Christ's  sake,  take  up  the 
work  of  ministering  to  lepers  ;  thankful,  I  say,  not  for  the  leper's 
sake  only,  but  for  one's  own  sake.  To  sit  down  and  think  of 
the  unselfish  and  the  humble,  in  this  world  of  selfishness  and 
pride,  is  both  comforting  and  stimulating. 

"  Lucalla  is  the  name  of  a  large  river  that  flows  into  the 
Kwanza.  Dr.  Livingstone  crossed  it  on  his  first  great  journey 
from  the  Cape  to  St.  Paul  dc  Loanda,  and  the  to^vn  of  Lucalla 
lies  east  and  west  of  the  ferry  used  by  the  famous  traveller  ; 
indeed,  I  had  been  able  to  identify  from  my  comfortable  seat  in 
the  train  several  of  the  rivers  and  stopping  places  he  wrote  of 
in  his  first  Journals.  Here,  at  Ngulungo-Olto,  he  was  delighted 
with  the  mountain  scenery,  and  reminded  of  his  home  in 
Scotland  ;   there,  along  that  oozy,  muddy  river  Bengo,  he  had 

285 


286  THE   FIFTH  JOURNEY 

fever  on  fever  ;  there,  his  men,  finding  that  they  were  within 
a  few  days  of  Loanda — ^the  great  slave  port  of  those  days — 
were  all  minded  to  leave  him  and  return  without  pay  to  their 
homes  in  Barotseland. 

Writing  from  Lucalla,  December  28th,  1906,  Arnot  said:  "Tell 

Mrs. how  when  we  were  all  sitting  at  dinner  a  big  poisonous 

spider  came  into  the  room,  and  a  Portuguese  rushed  from  the 
table  in  terror,  saying,  '  If  it  bites  me  I  ■wall  be  dead  in  six 
months.'  I  wondered  why  he  didn't  say  in  six  days  or  in  six 
minutes,  he  looked  so  frightened,  but  the  hotel  keeper  came 
boldly  to  the  rescue  and  put  his  foot  on  the  hairy  monster,  and 
then  burned  it.  ...  I  am  having  my  Christmas  holidays 
waiting  in  a  Portuguese  trader's  house.  Oh  !  dear  me  !  He 
has  only  a  little  room  for  us  both,  and  he  does  like  to  be  so  hot 
and  dirty,  and  no  window  open.  But  I  get  a  corner  open. 
The  house  hasn't  been  cleaned  for  a  year,  I  think,  and  he  doesn't 
think  it  worth  while  cleaning  it  for  he  is  going  to  leave  it  in 
another  year.  .  .  .  How  my  host  hocks  and  coughs,  and  what 
sores  he  has  to  dress,  and  what  groans  and  moans  and  violent 
tempers  !  But  he  tries  to  make  one  comfortable  in  his  own  way 
with  fish  and  oil." 

At  Malolo,  a  sort  of  half-way  camp  between  Lucalla  and  Bihe, 
Arnot  was  met,  on  January  12th,  1907,  with  the  sad  news  that 
Dr.  Sparks'  state  was  very  critical.  Letters  urged  him  to  press 
on  if  possible.  In  five  days  Arnot  covered,  ■v^dth  his  carriers, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  arriving  at  Okapango,  Bihe,  the 
same  day  as  Dr.  Wellman  from  the  West.  "  There  was,"  says 
Arnot,  "  no  hope.  I  went  in  at  once  to  the  sick  room  ;  Dr. 
Sparks,  of  course,  looked  greatly  changed,  but  brighter  and 
happier  than  perhaps  I  had  ever  seen  him.  While  I  held 
his  hand,  he  asked  what  had  delayed  me,  and  added  that 
my  coming  was  to  him  a  special  answer  to  prayer.  The 
end  came  in  a  few  days  without  much  pain  or  suffering. 
The  missionaries  gathered  from  Ochilonda  and  Ohwalondo, 
as  did  also  many  native  Christians,  to  attend  the  funeral. 
During  Dr.  Sparks'  short  service  in  Africa,  he  had  succoured 
many,  and  saved  the  lives  of  not  a  few." 

On  January  29th  he  writes  :  "  Mrs.  Lane  nursed  me  through 
my  little  fever,  more  the  result  of  the  hard  walking  and  distress 
too  at  finding  Sparks  so  low.  Still  I  am  quite  myself  again, 
and  thankful  to  be  here." 


THE   FIFTH   JOURNEY  287 

The  opportunity  afforded  by  the  gathering  of  missionaries 
to  the  funeral  of  Dr.  Sparks  was  seized  to  hold  a  Conference  to 
discuss  some  important — and  a  few  burning — questions  of 
Church  order  and  discipline  among  the  African  converts.  "  It 
was  good,"  writes  Arnot,  "  to  be  reminded  that  time  was  too 
short  for  mourning  ;  better  brush  the  tear  aside  and  press  on. 
We  had  no  '  Peter  '  or  '  James  '  at  our  '  Jerusalem  Council,' 
but  the  Lord  was  with  us,  and  peace  and  harmony  the  outcome. 

"  Polygamy,  Avith  its  many  concomitant  evils,  lies  at  the  root 
of  most  of  our  African  church  troubles.  We  were  all  of  one  mind 
in  concluding  from  Scripture  that  no  professing  Christian  living 
with  more  than  one  wife  should  be  received  at  the  Lord's  table. 
At  the  same  time  such  were  not  to  be  treated  as  under  discipline, 
but  helped  on  and  cheered  with  the  hope  that  God  would  soon 
open  a  right  way  of  deliverance.  My  prayer  is  that  all  advisers 
and  friends  of  the  work  at  home  will  join  with  and  support  us 
in  this  earnest  desire  to  preserve  within  the  circle  of  the  Church 
visible  the  authority  and  purity  of  our  Lord's  words  in  Matt. 
xix,  verses  4  and  5,  '  Have  ye  not  read,  that  He  that  made  them 
at  the  beginning,  made  them  male  and  female,  and  said.  For 
this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  father  and  mother  and  shall  cleave 
to  his  wife  ;   and  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh.' 

"  The  Old  Testament  saints  and  their  many  wives,  of  course, 
perplexed  the  African,  and  he  has  many  questions  to  ask,  but 
the  words  ''at  the  beginning^  in  verse  4,  and  'from  the  beginning* 
in  verse  8,  justify  our  passing  over  the  heads  of  all  these  men 
as  examples  in  this  particular.  Lideed,  I  have  had  no  hesitation 
in  telling  the  African  that  Abraham,  Jacob,  David,  Solomon, 
etc.,  were  clearly  living  in  a  '  time  of  ignorance  '  as  to  the  true 
meaning  of  the  marriage  bond  ;  the  mystical  and  typical 
teaching  of  Adam  and  Eve  remained  hidden  from  the  Old 
Testament  saints,  being  bound  up  with  the  mystery  of  the 
Church,  the  Bride  of  Christ,  revealed  to  us  in  the  gospels  and 
epistles. 

"  Then,  the  great  question  of  the  African  convert's  conduct 
towards  his  wives  was  considered  under  several  heads.  And 
here,  as  all  can  well  understand,  we  felt  ourselves  face  to  face 
with  our  utter  ignorance  and  helplessness,  and  apart  from  the 
Holy  Spirit's  personal  help  and  interference  in  each  individual 
case  we  had  no  hope.  But  surely  His  presence  is  hope  and 
comfort. 


288  THE   FIFTH   JOURNEY 

"  The  importance  of  preserving  '  a  good  report  of  them  that 
are  without '  was  mentioned  as  a  guiding  principle,  so  that  no 
wife  could  be  sent  away  :  (a)  Without  the  wife's  consent ;  (b) 
Without  the  approval  of  her  relatives  and  the  elders  of  her 
tribe." 

Under  date  February  5th,  1907,  Arnot  wrote  to  one  of  his 
sons  :  "A  snake  was  in  the  boat  I  got  into  to  cross  a  river, 
and  it  came  for  me,  and  I  had  my  camera  in  my  hand  and  snap- 
shotted it.  The  man  who  owned  the  boat  yelled  for  fright  for  he 
thought  my  camera  was  a  gun,  and  that  I  was  going  to  shoot 
a  hole  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat." 

Writing  at  this  time  to  the  Echoes  of  Service,  Arnot  said  : 
"  When  Portugal,  over  400  years  ago,  threw  off  the  yoke  of  the 
Moors,  and  pursued  them  into  Africa,  she  began  a  line  of 
conquest  and  exploration  that  led  to  her  occupation  of  the 
West  Coast  of  Africa,  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  great  Congo 
River.  From  their  enemies,  the  Moors,  the  Portuguese  also 
learned  to  value  negro  slaves,  whom  they  found  more  docile 
and  industrious  than  slaves  captured  on  other  coasts.  There- 
fore Loanda,  Benguella  and  other  ports  known  to  many  of  my 
readers  were  orginally  slave  markets,  where  the  natives 
brought  captives  taken  in  war,  to  be  sold  to  the  white  man 
in  exchange  for  cotton  goods,  silks,  rums,  guns,  salt,  etc.  One 
day  a  slave  was  brought  to  Loanda  for  sale,  who  afterwards 
persuaded  his  white  master  that  he  was  the  son  of  a  great  chief, 
captured  and  sold  by  a  rival.  This  boy  was  taken  to  the  Portu- 
guese Governor,  who  gave  him  a  military  training,  and  when 
old  enough,  Kangombe — for  that  was  the  name  he  was  after- 
wards known  by — was  sent  vnth  a  force  of  soldiers  to  reconquer 
his  father's  kraal  and  country,  which  country  has  since  been 
known  by  the  name  of  Bihe.  Kangombe's  descendants  reigned 
over  an  intelligent  and  active  people  until  about  fifteen  years 
ago,  when  the  Portuguese  took  the  country  over,  with  other 
large  tracks  of  West  Central  Africa.  Now  the  name  Bihe 
covers  a  large  part  of  the  great  West  Central  plateau. 

"  The  brethren  and  sisters  known  to  readers  of  Echoes  of 
Service  occupy  three  stations  in  this  region.  The  Portuguese 
have  never  encouraged  their  own  missionaries  ;  indeed,  two 
centuries  ago  they  drove  the  Jesuits  out  of  all  their  African 
possessions,  so  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  they  would 
welcome  Protestants.    Little  by  little,  however,  without  either 


A  Striking  Headdress 

A  Mashukalumpe  man.     Near  the  Kafukwe 
River,  upper  N.W.  Rhodesia. 


A  Fetish  Man 

In  a  dress  intended  to  represent  a  departed 
spirit. 


THE  FIFTH   JOURNEY  289 

the  invitation  or  the  good- will  of  Portuguese  or  native,  the 
Gospel  has  been  preached  and  schools  have  been  established, 
so  that  to-day  Bihe  might  almost  be  a  Protestant  country,  for 
certainly  the  preaching  and  the  teaching  of  the  Word  of  God 
has  made  it  difficult  for  missionaries  to  find  an  entrance  with 
any  other  text-book  than  the  Bible." 

From  Okapango  Arnot  went  to  Ohwalondo  and  on  to  Ochi- 
londa.  His  description  of  the  work  in  the  latter  centre  gives 
some  idea  of  the  progress  of  the  work  which  he  had  done  so 
much  to  found.  We  quote  this  simply  as  a  specimen  of  what 
he  found  in  all  the  centres  :  "  Messrs.  Sanders  and  Figg  gave 
up  much  of  their  regular  work  to  johi  me  in  visiting  outlying 
villages  where  there  are  groups  of  professing  Christians.  Regular 
day-schools  are  carried  on  in  six  of  these,  as  well  as  at  Ochi- 
londa,  and  in  and  around  the  other  two  Bihe  stations.  It  is 
encouraging  to  see  the  amount  of  free  labour  given  by  Christian 
young  men  to  this  semi-secular,  but  most  important  branch 
of  the  work.  Three  fairly  qualified  men  are  each  paid  £5  a 
year  by  our  brethren  to  teach  in  the  more  important  schools. 
The  village  schoolrooms  are  also  the  meeting  rooms  for  prayer 
and  Bible  reading  during  the  week,  and  Gospel  preaching  on 
the  Sundays.  The  native  Christians  in  those  districts  seem  to 
draw  together  into  one  village  built  close  to  the  other  villages 
of  the  group  ;  they  have  snug  little  houses  with  gardens  and 
fruit  trees.  One  morning  I  surprised  one  of  these  village  homes, 
and  thought  I  had  never  beheld  a  more  beautiful  sight.  The 
father  was  reading  a  chapter  from  the  New  Testament,  with 
his  wife  and  five  children  sitting  around,  clean  and  decently 
clothed.  These  village  Christians,  especially  the  girls  and 
women,  have  at  times  to  endure  a  good  deal  of  rough  handling 
from  their  relatives  when  first  professing  Christ. 

"  Although  the  population  around  Ochilonda  has  decreased 
during  the  last  few  years,  the  Christians  have  increased,  and 
the  meetings  are  better  attended  than  ever  ;  some  came  over 
ten  miles  to  that  held  on  Sunday  morning.  One  young  man, 
Buta,  who  was  converted  at  the  American  mission  station,  some 
thirty  miles  off,  has  built  a  school  and  meeting  room  in  his  own 
district,  where  he  teaches  and  toils  at  his  own  charges.  He  is 
indeed  an  example  to  all  of  happy  Christian  activity  and  con- 
tentment. The  question  now  before  our  brethren  in  charge 
of  the  work  here  is  how  to  encourage  the  older  native  Christians 


290  THE   FIFTH  JOURNEY 

to  scatter  themselves  over  a  still  wider  area.  For  we  have  only 
to  go  three  or  four  hours'  journey  from  Ochilonda  to  five  large 
\'illages  and  districts  wholly  without  the  Gospel.  And  Bihe, 
after  all,  is  but  one  province  on  the  great  Umbunda-speaking 
plateau  of  West  Central  Africa,  a  district  as  large  as  Spain 
and  Portugal,  so  that  when  the  Ovimbundu  tribe  is  spoken 
of  it  must  be  as  a  people  almost  wholly  without  the  Gospel. 

"  To  come  down  to  the  details  of  things  is,  after  all,  one  great 
comfort  when  occupied  with  so  large  a  field  of  service.  The 
ordinary  traveller  would  see  nothing  to  encourage  him  in  the 
great  heaps  of  earth  thro\\Ti  up  all  around  Kimberley,  but  a 
sight  of  the  diamonds  safely  guarded  by  the  manager — the  result, 
perhaps,  of  one  day's  washing — would  dispel  all  doubt  as  to  the 
success  of  the  mine.  A  tall  native  living  at  Buta's  village  had 
served  as  a  soldier.  When  he  professed  conversion  a  few  weeks 
ago,  he  said,  '  When  a  soldier  I  obeyed  my  captain  ;  shall  I  not 
now  obey  my  Master  Jesus  ?  '  Since  then  he  has  destroyed 
a  great  store  of  fetishes  and  magic-working  charms,  and  desired 
to  be  baptised.  Recently  a  Conference  was  held  at  Ochilonda, 
when  over  200  Christians  assembled,  and  one  present  said  it 
did  his  heart  good  to  see  such  a  number  gathered  to  the  Lord's 
name,  and  that  they  all  seemed  so  happily  to  realise  our  unity 
in  Christ.    It  may  well  do  our  hearts  good  to  hear  of  it." 

Journeying  towards  the  Chokwe  Arnot  says  :  "  I  passed 
many  Portuguese  rum  distilleries,  and  shops  where  also  a  little 
cloth  and  gunpowder  are  sold  ;  for  although  a  European  can 
with  difficulty  get  100  cartridges  into  the  country,  hundreds 
of  guns  and  tons  of  gunpowder  are  sold  to  the  natives.  .  .  . 

"  My  carriers  know,  of  course,  that  they  have  set  out  on  a 
long  journey  ;  they  may  be  a  year  from  their  homes.  Some  of 
them  are  Christians  ;  we  have  profitable  meetings  with  the 
villagers  living  near  our  camp,  and  in  their  own  simple  way  my 
men  add  a  few  words.  One,  indeed,  is  quite  an  orator,  and 
drew  lessons  from  the  thunder  that  warned  the  women  in  the 
field  and  the  woodman  in  the  forest  to  gather  their  things 
together  and  start  for  home. 

"  The  day  before  I  crossed  the  Kwanza  River,  a  Portuguese 
asked  me  to  eleven  o'clock  breakfast  ^\dth  him.  Aiter  sitting 
rather  wearily  through  the  many  courses  composed  of  the  same 
African  goat,  boiled,  roasted,  fried,  fricassee,  etc.,  I  was  about 
to  leave  for  camp,  when  he  invited  me  to  wait  and  listen  to  his 


THE   FIFTH  JOURNEY  291 

gramophone.  The  first  disc  he  took  from  the  drawer  was  not 
the  one  he  wished  me  to  hsten  to  ;  so  he  put  it  back,  with  the 
remark  that  it  was  '  a  discourse  in  a  strange  language,'  but  I 
urged  him  to  let  me  hear  it,  and  said  the  one  disc  would  be  as 
good  as  the  other  to  me.  Imagine,  then,  my  surprise  and 
delight  when  the  machine  began  to  give  off  Psalm  xxiii  in  a 
fine  English  voice.  So  the  Lord  has  His  own  ways  of  comforting 
and  cheering  one  on. 

'''April  17th,  1907. — We  are  now  among  the  Chokwe  villages  ; 
and  to-day  I  was  visited  by  Sama  Kalenge,  the  chief  who 
attempted  to  rob  me  at  Peho  22  years  ago.  These  Chokwe 
people  seem  to  be  by  themselves  in  their  pride  and  sense  of 
superiority,  even  above  the  whites.  That  they  are  a  superior 
sort  of  people  there  can  be  no  question,  and  this  also  accounts 
for  the  fact  that  of  all  the  West  Central  African  tribes  they  have 
proved  to  be  the  most  troublesome.  The  '  we  are  the  people  ' 
doctrine  is  not  confined  to  white  and  '  Christian  '  races.  In 
the  eyes  of  many  Africans  the  '  white  man  '  is  like  the  '  green 
plum  '  blown  too  soon  from  the  tree,  while  they  held  fast  until 
they  were  ripe  and  vigorous. 

"  I  left  Boma  on  the  15th,  and  four  days'  good  travelling, 
through  a  fairly  populous  country,  brought  me  to  the  edge  of 
the  Chifumashi  plains.  Heavy  rains  were  now  falling — 
unusually  so  for  this  time  of  the  year — and  I  and  my  men 
faced  the  flats  with  many  misgivings  ;  however,  we  got  through 
in  five  days  with  much  damage  from  water,  but  it  was  an 
experience.  Ant  heaps  were  our  only  sleeping  places  at  night 
and  we  had  water  knee-deep,  and  sometimes  even  thigh-  and 
waist-deep,  all  the  days  with  cold  rain  storms  sweeping  over 
us.  At  one  river  I  had  gone  on  in  a  cogly  canoe  to  try  to  find 
another  and  larger  dug-out,  leaving  my  carriers  standing  in 
water  up  to  their  thighs,  with  no  way  of  escape  except  by  canoe. 
One  of  the  men  suggested  that  I  was  making  off  and  would 
not  return  again,  and  when  some  marshwood  trees  hid  me 
from  them  they  gave  way  to  panic.  I  sent  the  canoe  back  on 
reaching  the  other  side  of  the  swollen  river,  and  my  loads 
were  literally  thrown  into  it,  until  it  sank  mth  three  boxes. 
Some  called  on  their  mothers  and  fathers  ;  the  younger  boys 
wept  and  wailed  ;  and  but  for  one  elder  man's  presence  of 
mind  and  wise  words  all  my  loads  would  have  been  thrown 
into  the  water. 


292  THE   FIFTH   JOURNEY 

"  On  Hearing  Nana  Kandundu,  I  met  the  old  Queen  Nakatolo, 
or  Nana  Kandundu,  and  when  I  complimented  her  on  her  youth- 
ful appearance,  she  returned  the  compliment  by  saying  that 
she  looked  well  because  she  saw  me,  her  old  friend,  that  day. 

"  Humanly  speaking,  there  is  much  to  suggest  that  the 
Balovale  and  Baluena  would  prove  a  fruitful  field.  They  are 
not  a  beer-brewing,  drink-sodden  people,  nor  aggressive  and 
warlike,  and  some  of  their  legendary  stories  have  a  touch  of 
goodness  about  them.  As,  for  instance,  in  a  story  they  tell  of 
two  men  who  came  to  their  god  to  beg  for  seed  to  sow  as  the 
drought  had  left  them  vathout  food  or  seed.  The  god  asked 
the  first  man  his  name,  and  he  said  his  name  was  '  Mr.  Help- 
Myself,'  so  he  gave  him  boiled  seed.  The  second  man  said  that 
his  name  was  '  Mr.  Help-my-Neighbour,'  so  the  god  gave  him 
good  seed  to  sow. 

"  Then  another  tale,  translated  by  Mr.  Schindler  (of  Nana 
Kandundu),  tells  of  two  blind  men  coming  to  a  river  and  hailing 
the  ferryman  to  come  and  paddle  them  over.  When  in  mid- 
stream the  ferryman  asked  the  first  blind  man  why  he  was 
blind,  and  he  confessed  and  said  it  was  just  what  he  deserved, 
so  the  ferryman  gave  him  back  his  sight.  Returning  for  the 
second  blind  man  he  brought  him  to  mid-stream  and  asked  him 
the  same  question,  and  the  blind  man  declared  that  his  jealous 
relations  had  bewtched  him,  and  that  God  had  dealt  hardly 
with  him,  etc.  He  was  allowed  to  cross  over,  but  to  go  on  for 
the  rest  of  his  life  blind  and  groping. 

"  This  is  unusual,  and  suggests  that  away  back  in  the  history 
of  the  tribe  some  African  Confucius  must  have  lived  and  taught. 

"  I  shall  never  forget  one  morning's  walk  Mr.  Schindler  took 
me  through  the  forest.  At  last  we  came  to  a  clearing  and  a  few 
huts  appeared.  Then  some  sweet  potato  patches  and  more  huts. 
Then  a  shed-like  erection,  and  a  tall,  sober-looking  young  man 
of  about  30  years,  the  leader  of  a  little  group  of  five  believers, 
who  had  built  this  room  of  the  best  wood  they  could  find  as 
their  prayer  room.  In  different  directions  similar  groups  are 
forming  and  becoming  more  \dsible,  and  begin  to  spread  like 
the  grafts  of  living  skins  on  the  bare  raw  flesh  of  Africa's,  and 
the  world's,  open  sore." 

Writing  from  Kavungu,  May  15th,  1907,  Arnot  said  :  "I 
have  just  returned  from  Kazombo,  and  I  have  enjoyed  the 
beautiful  Zambesi  again  and  the  scenery  around. 


THE   FIFTH   JOURNEY  293 

"  On  Monday  \vc  went  for  a  picnic  to  a  hill  three  miles  or 
so  away.  We  passed  a  dead  hyena.  Miss  Lindley  said  it  was 
a  dead  ox.  It  was  hidden  in  the  grass,  and  her  hammock  men 
said,  '  Oh,  yes  !  it  is  a  dead  ox.'  The  other  men  shouted  out 
to  them,  '  You  fool !  It  is  not  an  ox,  it  is  a  dead  hyena.' 
'  Hush  !  Hush  !  '  was  the  reply,  '  hasn't  the  lady  said  it  was  a 
<^ead  ox  ?  Then  if  she  said  so  it  must  be  so.  It's  an  ox, 
an  ox.'  So  you  see  what  good  manners  the  Africans  have; 
they  don't  like  to  contradict  ladies. 

"  Kavungu,  July  23rd,  1907. — I  am  keeping  up  my  duties 
here,  carpentering  with  converts  in  forenoon,  and  sitting  with 
Schindler  each  afternoon  helping  him  with  translation  of  Luke. 
I  help  him  with  the  English  idioms.  We  look  up  the  Greek  too 
Avith  helps,  and  compare  Umbundu  and  Luba.  I  am  able  to 
help  him  out  from  these  two  translations  very  often.  Then  we 
have  an  excellent  native  sitting  with  us,  so  we  look  quite 
imposing.  To  me  it  is  a  great  honour  to  have  even  this  little 
share  in  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament. 

"  Mr.  Louttit  is  also  making  progress  with  the  Chokwe 
language,  in  the  hope  of  soon  being  able  to  begin  to  translate 
the  Scriptures,  while  Dr.  Stover  (A.B.C.F.M.)  has  practically 
finished  the  New  Testament  in  Umbundu,  and  Dr.  Laws  and 
his  friends  in  Chisanje,  out  east,  so  Lunda  will  be  the  last  of 
the  great  languages  to  be  enriched  with  the  words  of  truth  and 
life  along  this  belt  of  Africa  from  West  to  East.  Shall  we  not 
therefore  continue  more  earnestly  in  prayer  that  this  work 
may  be  completed.  Already  we  can  say  that  at  least  parts  of 
Holy  Scripture  have  been  translated  into  every  African  dialect 
found  between  the  West  Coast  at  Benguella  and  the  East  Coast. 

"  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Fisher  are  very  hopeful  of  the  work  around 
Kalene  among  the  Va-Lunda,  as  well  as  of  the  Sanatorium. 
This,  of  course,  as  an  institution,  must  be  content  with  small 
beginnings,  and  probably  it  will  be  of  no  great  service  to 
missionaries  over  a  hundred  miles  away  until  a  railway  is  made. 
But  it  is,  and  will  be,  a  very  great  boon.  By  eighteen  years' 
constant  service.  Dr.  Fisher  has  done  much  to  improve  the 
health  conditions  in  Central  Africa,  and  will  make  it  possible 
for  those  needing  change  to  obtain  it,  and  also  for  any  to  have 
teeth  attended  to  and  renewed,  or  to  have  small  operations 
performed,  without  being  obUged  to  take  the  long  journey  to 
England. 


294  THE   FIFTH   JOURNEY 

"  The  more  one  sees  of  the  Va-Lovale  and  the  Va-Lunda 
tribes,  the  more  one's  mterest  in  them  increases.  When  at 
Kalene  I  visited  some  of  the  Lunda  villages  with  Dr.  Fisher. 
At  one  we  found  all  busy  worshipping  the  spirit  of  some 
ancestral  hunter,  who,  it  was  said,  had  enabled  one  of  the 
villagers  to  kill  two  large  antelopes.  By  the  time  we  arrived 
an  offering  had  been  prepared,  consisting  of  native  bread  and 
cooked  antelope  meat.  The  lump  of  soft  bread  was  held  on 
the  end  of  a  stick,  and  looked  like  wool  on  a  distaff.  The 
chief  of  the  village  held  the  bread  and  all  danced  in  front  of 
a  fetish  horn  stuck  in  the  ground,  behind  which  a  hatstand- 
like  tree  stood,  hung  all  over  with  horns,  skulls  and  jaw-bones 
of  animals  killed  in  the  chase.  The  chief  then  allowed  each 
dancer  to  pick  off  a  piece  of  bread,  and  with  a  little  bit  of 
antelope  meat  make  an  offering  to  the  ancestral  spirit  ;  after 
which  all  knelt  down  and,  with  clappings  and  bowings,  gave 
to  the  spirit  the  honours  due  to  a  great  chief.  The  hunter 
then  took  his  stand  on  the  head  of  one  of  the  slain  antelopes, 
and  all  danced  before  him.  The  stick  of  bread  was  handed  to 
him ;  he  ate  a  little  and  handed  the  loaf  back  to  the  chief,  so  the 
dance  continued.  Now  a  little  boy  was  allowed  to  join  in, 
and  all  went  merrily  on  for  a  few  minutes  ;  then  the  boy — 
playing  his  part  well — seized  the  bread  and  rushed  off  with  it, 
while  the  men  followed  in  a  mock  chase  until  they  reached 
the  village  bounds.  The  '  thief '  was  soon  joined  by  his 
companions,  and  all  sat  around  in  a  ring,  and  '  partook  '  of 
the  sacred  loaf.  In  this  way  these  rude  but  clever  savages 
got  over  their  difficult  question  of  disposing  of  what  in  their 
eyes  was  something  '  consecrated.' 

"  The  dance  being  now  over,  chief  and  people  sat  down  to 
listen  to  and  converse  vnth  us.  '  How  many  ancestral  spirits 
do  you  Va-Lunda  worship  in  this  way  ?  '  '  We  don't  know ; 
we  have  so  many.'  '  How  many  gods  have  the  Va-Lunda  ?  ' 
'  There  is  only  one  God.'  '  Which  is  the  greatest — God  or  the 
ancestral  spirits  ?  '  'Of  course,  God  is  the  greatest,'  the  chief 
replied.  '  Then,  if  God  is  the  greatest,  why  do  you  not  worship 
Him  ?  Why  worship  only  these  ancestral  spirits  who  were 
made  by  Him  ?  '  At  this  the  chief  turned  to  the  group  of  men, 
saying,  '  Listen  to  this,'  as  much  as  to  say,  Dr.  Fisher  and  his 
friend  have  got  me  into  a  nice  fix  ;  what  answer  can  I  give  ? 
Then,  turning  round  he  said,,  '  We  would  worship  God  if  we 


THE   FIFTH  JOURNEY  295 

only  knew  how,'  Of  course  we  told  him  that  the  reason  for 
our  coming  to  live  among  them  was  to  tell  them  how  to  worship 
God. 

"  On  my  six  days'  journey  back  to  Kavungu  I  witnessed  a 
very  touching  sight.  On  reaching  a  Lunda  village  we  found 
that  a  woman  had  died  the  night  before,  and  they  had  set  her 
body  up  on  a  mat  outside  her  hut.  A  spirit-doctor  was  present 
in  full  professional  costume,  and  her  husband  was  holding  her 
hands,  and  imploring  her  to  treat  him  kindly,  to  remember 
how  he  had  clothed  her  in  life,  and  was  now  heaping  all  his 
wealth  upon  her  body.  Then  he  wound  long  strings  of  beads 
about  her  arms  and  neck." 

Arnot  wrote  to  his  children  from  Kalene,  August  11th, 
1907  : 

"  I  have  had  a  very  pleasant  trip  along  the  Zambesi  Valley. 
My  Lovale  carriers  do  not  keep  together  so  well  as  the  Ovim- 
bundu.  We  had  a  good  time,  however,  and  I  hurried  my  men 
up  by  giving  a  present  of  a  bit  of  meat  to  each  man  who  arrived 
in  the  camping  place  during  the  first  half  hour  or  so,  I  have 
four  men  carrying  my  hammock,  so  I  walk  two  hours,  two  men 
carry  me  two  hours,  the  other  two  carry  me  for  other  two 
hours,  so  we  reach  camp. 

"  Although  these  Lovale  men  seem  to  live  in  the  midst  of 
noises,  drumming  and  dancing  all  night  long  until  one's  head 
is  sore  and  weary,  I  was  surprised  to  find  how  they  dislike 
some  noises.  For  instance,  the  cover  of  my  hammock  was  a 
little  loose  and  went  knock,  knock  against  the  pole.  Because 
of  the  thick  trees  I  decided  to  remove  the  cover.  After  a 
while  I  was  putting  it  on  again  when  one  of  the  men  gave  a 
shudder,  '  Ugh,'  he  said,  '  Put  on  that  wretched  cover  ?  ' 
'  Why  not  ?  '  I  asked,  '  it  is  not  heavy.'  '  Oh,  no  !  '  he 
replied,  '  but  oh,  that  dreadful  knock,  knock.'  So  I  tied  on 
my  jacket  to  the  pole  to  pad  it  where  the  top  knocked.  To 
carry  a  box  too  with  something  rattling  inside  is  most  annoying, 
and  the  poor  man  will  bring  the  box  and  put  it  down  with 
such  an  imploring  look.  I  suppose  they  feel  like  the  hippo 
who  had  to  get  into  the  water  to  get  out  of  the  wet,  or  the 
elephant  with  a  hide  so  tough  that  he  can  push  through  the 
thickest  thorn  bushes,  and  yet  seems  to  be  so  annoyed  when 
a  fly  lights  on  him,  for  he  pulls  a  branch  of  a  tree  to  dust  the 
fly  away, 


296  THE   FIFTH   JOURNEY 

"  Kalunda  and  Kalene  are  the  first  stations  to  be  opened 
among  the  great  Balunda  tribe.  The  Balunda  are  very  shy, 
and  so  ready  to  move  off  at  the  sUghtest  alarm  that  the  work 
proved  to  be  very  slow  at  first.  Their  \allages,  however,  are 
full  of  children.  Although  often  hidden  away  in  some  dark 
thick  forest  wc  had  to  be  most  careful  when  visiting  the 
villages  not  to  take  them  by  surprise,  for  ^vith  wonderful 
presence  of  mind  every  man,  woman  and  child  would  suddenly 
disappear  like  a  brood  of  young  partridges.  Then  as  one's 
eyes  became  accustomed  to  the  shade  of  the  trees  I  could  see 
a  child  at  my  feet  hiding  in  a  turf  of  grass,  a  feeble  old  woman 
under  a  cassava  bush,  a  man  or  woman  standing  stiff  and  still 
behind  each  tree  that  had  been  left  standing  for  such  a  useful 
purpose,  and  behind  a  hut  or  corn  bin  a  mother,  with  three  or 
four  bairns,  would  all  be  huddled  together,  the  anxious  mother 
putting  her  finger  into  the  baby's  mouth  to  keep  him  quiet. 

"  Entering  one  of  these  Lunda  villages  to  the  east  of  Kalene 
I  found  we  had  made  too  much  noise,  and  all  fled,  like  a  breeze 
of  wand,  into  the  forest.  Only  one  old  woman  and  her  family 
were  unable  to  escape,  and  sat  huddled  in  the  dark  recess  of 
their  hut.  When  I  knelt  down  at  the  door  to  beckon  them, 
the  poor  woman  shrieked  with  terror.  I  quietly  kept  my 
ground,  however,  and  held  out  to  the  little  boy  of  five  or  six 
a  bright  piece  of  calico.  The  child  looked  at  the  calico,  then 
at  his  mother,  then  at  the  calico  again,  until  at  last  the  tempta- 
tion became  too  strong,  and  with  a  rush  and  a  grab  he  seized 
the  prize.  Then  I  tempted  the  rest  of  the  children  with  salt, 
more  delightful  to  them  than  sugar.  At  last  all  came  out  to 
the  sunlight  and  scampered  off  to  show  their  treasure  to  their 
friends  in  the  forest,  and  soon  I  had,  not  only  all  the  children, 
but  all  the  fathers  and  mothers  too.  From  among  these  wild, 
naked  people  some  wonderful  trophies  have  already  been  won. 
The  difficulty,  both  at  Kalunda  and  Kalene,  was  how  to  build 
meeting  rooms  large  enough  to  take  all  in." 

Crossing  the  Lualaba  Arnot  travelled  to  Koni  Hill  along 
a  road  cut  as  straight  as  a  die.  "All  so  strange,"  he  says, 
"  from  the  old  days  of  thick  forest  and  bog  and  marsh.  To  the 
west  of  the  Lualaba  the  very  path  that  I  had  cut  through  a 
bamboo  forest,  at  the  rate  of  four  miles  a  day,  vnth  torn  boots 
and  bleeding  feet,  owing  to  the  sharp  bamboo  stumps,  was  now 
a  veritable  highway." 


THE   FIFTH   JOURNEY  297 

Arnot  arrived  at  Koni  Hill  in  August,  1907,  after  twenty 
years'  absence.  "  There,"  he  Avrote,  "  close  by,  stood  the 
villages  where  the  inhabitants  had  fled  at  my  first  appearance, 
saying  that  my  feet  were  like  zebra's  hoofs,  and  where 
I  had  publicly  eaten  a  potato  to  show  that  I  was  human. 
Now  the  Gospel  is  preached  to  them  every  week.  Mrs.  Anton's 
school  was  a  model  one  ;  the  houses  of  the  missionaries  and 
schoolrooms  were  of  burnt  brick  and  solid  woodwork,  and 
everything  around  spoke  of  skilled  labour. 

"  The  name  of  Va-Garenganzc,  given  by  Msidi  to  his  people, 
has  now  fallen  quite  out  of  use  ;  the  Congo  Free  State  and 
mining  companies  use  only  the  name  Katanga  for  Msidi's  old 
kingdom. 

"  How  interesting  every  hill  and  river  and  village  was  to 
me  22  years  ago,  and  how  dreary  this  time.  My  spleen  threatens 
to  fill  up  all  my  abdomen,  and  I  am  reduced  to  a  slop  diet." 

After  a  good  rest  here  Arnot  recovered  and  wrote  :  "I 
have  been  able  to  see  a  little  of  the  native  Christians,  and  also 
some  who  were  on  a  visit  from  the  Lufoi  Hills,  where  quite  a 
'  revival '  has  been  in  progress,  and  about  thirty  professed 
Christians  are  struggling  along  in  their  own  simple  way,  and 
amidst  some  little  opposition,  the  local  chief  declaring  it  to 
be  extreme  forwardness  on  their  part  to  profess  conversion 
to  the  white  man's  faith  while  their  big  chief  Mwenda  still 
remains  outside  the  Christian  fold. 

"  Kapapa,  the  dowager  queen  of  the  country,  was  the  first 
to  \nsit  me.  She  has  since  been  baptised,  and  her  good  example 
has  strengthened  the  cause  of  Christ  among  the  women.  I 
think  we  can  safely  say  that  unless  the  work  of  conversion 
begins  among  the  women  no  beginning  has  been  made.  The 
men  alone  seem  unable  to  shake  themselves  clear  of  the 
entanglements  of  polygamy  and  other  evils." 

From  Koni  Hill  Arnot  started  "  in  company  with  Mr.  Anton 
and  Mr.  Last  for  Mwenda's  town.  The  hammock  ride  along 
the  east  bank  of  the  Lufira  was  very  interesting,  being  all  new 
country  to  me.  We  passed  a  series  of  beautiful  waterfalls, 
and  further  on  a  hot  spring  hea\'ily  charged  with  salt,  which 
is  a  source  of  wealth  to  the  little  chief  in  charge.  My  com- 
panions cycled,  as  the  road  is  well  made,  and  in  the  dry  season 
forms  an  ideal  bicycle  track.  By  this  means  the  thirty  miles 
between  Koni  Hill  and  Mwenda's  occupy  only  three  hours, 


298  THE   FIFTH  JOURNEY 

or  even  less.  But  '  the  lame  duck  gives  the  pace,'  so  on 
account  of  my  slower  rate  of  travelling  we  camped  midway. 

"  Oct.  6th,  1907  (Sunday). — A  great  day  !  Such  a  splendid 
turn-out  and  welcome  at  Mwenda's  !  Every  seat  was  occupied 
in  the  schoolroom,  and  there  was  a  good  hearing  from  chief, 
queens,  and  people.  This  was  not  because  of  the  presence  of 
three  white  missionaries,  for  Kapekele,  the  converted  raider 
and  murderer,  was  the  preacher  the  Sunday  before,  and  had 
quite  as  many  present  to  hear  him.  The  Katanga  Co,  estimate 
the  population  of  Mwenda's  town  at  5000,  and  taking  a 
radius  of  about  five  miles,  there  must  be  ten  times  that 
number. 

"  On  every  hand  I  met  with  old  Bunkeya  friends,  for  here 
we  have  Msidi's  old  town  divided  pretty  much  as  it  was  twenty 
years  ago,  and  composed  of  the  same  people  or  their  children. 
Many  were  the  enquiries  made  for  Messrs.  Swann  and  Faulknor, 
and  one  man  was  proud  of  a  whole  limb  that  the  latter  had 
'  mended  '  when  badly  smashed  by  a  bullet." 

From  Msidi's  old  town  Arnot  proceeded  to  Luanza  on  Lake 
Mweru,  where  the  now  famous  Dan  Crawford  was  stationed. 
"  The  whole  school,"  Arnot  says,  "  came  down  to  meet  us,  anil 
this  was  but  the  beginning  of  the  boisterous  welcome  awaiting 
us  all  the  way  up  the  hill  from  hundreds  of  young  and  old. 
The  Crawfords  have  a  delightful  wattle  and  daub  house, 
thoroughly  African,  and  yet  most  comfortable  and  home- 
like. To  describe  Luanza  and  to  give  any  idea  of  the  changes 
that  have  been  brought  about  since  my  last  visit,  thirteen 
years  ago,  would  be  a  long  task.  Then  Arab  slave  raiders 
were  scattering  the  people,  compelling  Mr.  Cra\vford  to  turn 
from  being  a  wandering  cave,  forest  and  swamp  missionary, 
to  reside  more  or  less  in  one  place  and  to  gather  around  him 
the  hunted  and  homeless  tribes  of  Lake  Mweru.  Now,  first, 
we  have  here  the  inner  circle  of  baptised  behevers,  numbering 
45,  including  several  chiefs  ;  second,  a  large  company  of  pro- 
fessing Christians  and  '  listeners,'  varying  from  500  to  1000, 
meeting  in  the  circular  schoolroom  ;  third,  the  day-school  of 
over  200  scholars,  as  well  as  several  village  schools — all  too 
many  at  present  for  the  teachers  available  ;  and,  finally, 
streets  of  comfortable,  two-roomed  cottage  homes,  spreading 
over  the  plateau. 

"  Messrs    Crawford  and  Sims  are  anxious  to  push  on  mth 


THE   FIFTH   JOURNEY  299 

the  school  work.  Having  now  the  New  Testament  and  other 
reading  books  in  Chi-Luba,  the  time  seems  to  have  come  for 
extending  the  system  of  village  schools  broadcast,  for  only  in 
this  way  ■svill  the  work  of  the  evangelist  be  supported  by  the 
written  Word  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  Old  fetish  super- 
stitions are  crumbling  away  ;  Arab  invasion  and  Mahom- 
medanism  have  been  checked  ;  and  the  European  powers  are 
not  opposed  ;  why  is  it,  then,  that  we  seem  so  backward,  so 
unwilling  as  a  Church  to  advance  and  occupy  these  wholly 
unoccupied  fields  ?  After  all,  Bihe,  Chokwe,  Kavungu, 
Kazombo,  Kalunda,  Kalene,  Koni,  Luanza,  Johnston  Falls, 
are  only  thresholds  to  vast  regions,  where  the  success  of  the 
few  ought  to  encourage  the  many  to  follow  on,  and  surpass. 

"  During  my  stay  at  Luanza  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  graveyard 
where  the  precious  remains  of  Benjamin  Cobbe,  William 
Gammon,  John  Wilson,  Mrs.  Higgins,  Mrs.  Campbell,  Miss 
Jordan,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crawford's  first-born  baby,  Lindsay, 
and  the  first  native  convert,  Mishi-mishi,  tell  the  tale  of  the 
cost  of  pioneer  work  in  Central  Africa." 

Before  proceeding  home  there  was  one  more  centre  to  visit, 
viz.  the  one  at  Johnston  Falls  on  the  Luapula  River.  "  Here," 
Arnot  says,  "  the  meeting  in  the  evening  surprised  me  ;  I  did 
not  expect  to  find  so  many  professing  Christians.  .  .  .  The 
Sunday  before  I  left  was  a  very  happy  one.  Li  the  morning 
eleven  converts  were  baptised  in  the  stream  close  by,  and  in 
the  evening  we  all  dined  together  in  true  African  fashion, 
sitting  in  groups  round  piles  of  native  bread,  or  mush,  and 
pots  of  cooked  venison.  I  spoke  of  how,  after  our  Lord's 
first  coming  and  death  and  resurrection,  the  Gospel  was 
preached  all  over  the  ancient  world,  and  then  came  long 
years  of  silence  as  far  as  Africa  was  concerned  ;  but  now  East 
West,  North  and  South,  missionaries  were  coming,  people 
Vv'ere  hearing  what  their  fathers  and  grandfathers  had  never 
heard,  and  converts  were  to  be  found  in  nearly  every  country 
— what  did  it  all  mean  ?  Surely  it  must  mean  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  that  the  time  for  our  Lord  to  come  back  again 
was  very  near.  Then  one  of  the  young  native  converts  took 
up  the  subject  by  reading  the  scripture,  '  Blessed  are  the  eyes 
that  see  the  things  that  ye  see,  and  the  ears  that  hear  the 
things  that  ye  hear,'  and  in  a  very  able,  enlightened  way, 
followed  in  the  same  strain,  lifting  all  present  into  a  fine  spirit 


300  THE   FIFTH   JOURNEY 

of  thanksgiving,  in  that  through  God's  mercy  the  Gospel  had 
been  brought  to  them,  poor  Va-Vemba  sinners. 

"  Here  also,  as  at  all  the  stations,  our  brethren  have  great 
plans  and  projects  for  the  extension  of  the  work  ;  and  so  it 
ought  to  be,  and  ever  will  be,  if  we  are  serving  in  communion 
with  the  Master  Servant.  As  the  ship  can  never  overtake  the 
ocean  horizon,  so  the  missionary's  hands  and  feet  can  never 
reach  as  far  as  his  eyes  and  heart. 

"  My  journey  now  lay  south  for  200  miles  to  Broken  Hill, 
North- Western  Rhodesia,  and  from  there  by  rail  and  steamer 
home.  On  the  way  I  saw  how  that  the  '  Cape  to  Cairo  '  rail- 
way was  penetrating  the  almost  wholly  unevangelised  North- 
western Rhodesia,  and  I  felt  strongly  impressed  with  the 
thought  that  the  time  had  come  to  come  back  to  my  old  South 
African  base  of  operations.  Writing  these  thoughts  and  plans 
home  to  my  wife  I  was  surprised  to  find  awaiting  me  at  Cape- 
town a  letter  from  her  that  must  have  passed  my  letter  in 
mid-ocean,  expressing  the  same  idea.  So  all  other  things  being 
equal  we  gathered  that  we  had  both  been  guided  by  the  '  one 
Spirit '  in  the  matter.  And  the  few  months  I  spent  in  England 
were  occupied  chiefly  in  breaking  up  the  home  at  Bristol  and 
in  arranging  for  the  removal  of  my  wife  and  seven  children 
to  South  Africa  where  I  could  visit  them  as  often  as  it  was 
possible  to  do." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE  SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS 

IN  the  latter  part  of  1908  Arnot  took  up  his  residence, 
with  his  family,  in  Johannesburg.  Meeting  with  and 
speaking  in  the  assemblies  of  the  "  Brethren  "  in  that 
centre  he  w^as  a  means  of  spiritual  help  to  many.  The  reverence 
and  affection  with  which  he  is  spoken  of  to-day  are  a  tribute 
both  to  his  character  and  work  from  that  time  onward  unto 
his  death.  Other  churches  felt  the  stimulus  of  his  missionary 
zeal  and  w^re  helped  to  stretch  out  a  hand  to  the  "  regions 
beyond." 

As  soon  as  the  family  was  settled  the  call  of  Central  Africa 
again  took  Arnot  to  the  old  scenes.  The  train  took  him  as  far 
as  Broken  Hill,  at  that  time  the  terminus  of  the  Cape  to  Cairo 
railway.  Writing  to  Mrs.  Arnot,  in  March,  1909,  when  on  his 
way  north,  he  said  : 

"  I  changed  into  the  B.H.  train  and  we  were  soon  off.  But 
some  rough  customers  on  board.  In  my  compartment  two 
hunters  began  drinking  hard,  then  threatening  to  shoot  each 
other.  Then  the  big  one  held  the  little  one  down  by  the  throat. 
But  the  little  one  watched  his  chance  and  jumped  from  the 
into  the  next  compartment  but  the  big  Texas  man  kept  hand- 
train,  leaving  his  gun  and  kit  and  ticket  behind  him.  I  shifted 
ling  his  guns  and  trying  the  locks  and  preparing  to  fire  on  the 
enemy  all  night.  I  went  in  to  try  and  calm  him  and  unloaded 
two  cartridges,  but  he  soon  put  them  back  again.  However, 
he  was  better  in  the  morning.  I  hid  his  whisky  away  and  he 
is  no  longer  dangerous. 

'''April  ISth,  1908. — This  morning  I  awoke  after  a  good 
night's  rest  to  lie  and  listen  to  the  doves  and  green  parrots. 
My  camp  is  in  a  lovely  glade,  with  a  village  close  by  where  an 
old  rascal  lives  who  tried  to  sell  me  three  eggs  as  fresh,  with 
feathered  fowls  inside.  They  had  no  hens  either  to  sell,  so 
just  about  supper  time  two  doves  came  on  the  tree  close  by. 

301 


302    SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS 

They  looked  very  lovingly  at  each  other  and  I  looked  lovingly 
at  them,  and  soon  had  them  nicely  stewed  on  my  plate.  .  .  . 
My  bike  behaves  fairly  well,  only  thro"vm  me  twice,  but  I  am 
breaking  him  in.  ...  I  had  a  four  hours'  wade  in  a  marsh 
up  to  the  waist  and  none  the  worse. 

"  May  1st,  Kalaso. — I  am  very  well,  wearing  nothing  but 
my  trousers  and  my  singlet.  You  can  imagine  how  sun-burnt  I 
am.  Still  I  am  enjoying  it,  enjoying  meeting  these  Bakaonde, 
all  Lulu  speaking,  so  I  am  quite  at  home.  Oh  !  the  plans  my 
poor  brain  works  up.  What  a  field  for  an  entirely  new  start  ! 
The  Bakaonde  are  right  up  to  the  Congo  frontier,  where  at 
Kansanshi  the  watershed  rises  to  5400  ft.  We  could  have  the 
benefit  of  Crawford's  translation.  Would  be  in  touch  with  the 
railway  at  Kansanshi,  if  not  actually  on  it,  etc.  A  work  .might 
be  begun  that  our  own  children  could  carry  on.  However,  my 
work  clearly  is  to  help  Walter  (Dr.  Fisher)  this  year,  and 
Cunningham  is  evidently  waiting  for  me.  The  sight  of  these 
utterly  unevangelised  cannot  but  affect  one  deeply.  And  the 
Coillards'  heroic  effort  when  older  than  we  are  is  always  a 
stimulant."    Arnot  was  then  nearing  his  fiftieth  birthday. 

Joining  Dr.  Fisher  at  Kalene  Hill  Arnot  travelled  on  with 
him  to  a  Conference  arranged  at  Kalunda,  Mr.  Cunningham's 
station.  Missionaries  from  Kavungu  and  Kazombo  were  also 
present.  Difficulties  were  faced  and  overcome  and  much 
profitable  work  done. 

The  unevangelised  condition  of  the  country  appealed  to 
him  all  the  time.  To  his  daughter  Rachel  he  wrote  from 
Kalunda  :  "  Uncle  W^alter  came  here  with  me.  It  took  us 
five  days,  travelling  all  day,  to  reach  this,  the  nearest  Mission 
Station  to  Kalene,  so  that  there  are  great  fields  to  be  filled  in. 
We  passed  large  districts  full  of  people  who  never  really  hear 
the  Gospel." 

From  Kalene  Hill,  he  writes  a  month  later  to  Mrs.  Arnot : 
"  We  are  not  treading  on  other  people's  toes  in  all  these  great 
wastes  of  country.  I  should  like  to  take  a  hohday  with  you 
on  a  Mission  Station  in  Natal,  and  study  Zulu,  for  right  up  to 
the  Zambesi  I  can  see  Zulu  is  ousting  Sechuana,  and  is  to  be 
the  dialect  of  the  natives  of  S.  Africa." 

His  sense  of  humour  crops  out  in  the  midst  of  all  the  pressing 
need  he  faces,  and  he  passes  on  to  his  children  the  stories 
picked  up  around  the  camp  fires.    Here  is  one  :  "  Tell  the  boys 


SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS    303 

that  I  heard  of  an  asylum  that  had  a  ward  in  it  for  motor  car 
madmen.  A  visitor  was  being  shown  round  the  asylum,  and 
when  he  was  brought  to  the  ward  for  motor  men  he  saw  no 
one  in  it  and  was  much  surprised.  But  the  attendant  said, 
'  Oh  !  they  are  all  here.  There  !  Under  each  bed  !  Don't  you 
see  them  ?    Each  one  is  mending  his  motor  car.'  " 

In  his  general  report  of  this  trip  Arnot  wrote  :  "  Leaving 
Kalene  I  travelled  with  a  few  men  along  the  Anglo-Belgian 
frontier  to  Kansanshi.  The  only  trace  of  European  occupation, 
however,  during  the  250  miles'  tramp  was  not  the  boma  of  an 
Arab  slave  dealer,  but  the  den  of  a  trader  of  German  birth. 
(On  the  way  I  met  with  Balunda,  Basamba  and  Bakaonde, 
and  plenty  of  game.  Indeed,  in  one  district  they  seemed  more 
interested  in  me  than  I  in  them.  Craning  their  necks  and 
snuffing  the  air,  these  big  animals  approached  me  to  within 
fifty  yards.)  Tall  and  muscular.  His  frontier  store  was  well 
supplied  with  gunpowder  from  Portuguese  territory,  with 
young  women  slaves  from  the  Congo  Free  State  (composing 
his  harem)  and  with  cases  of  whisky  from  British  territory. 
Miss  Wilson  Carmichael  caused  a  sensation  by  writing  things 
as  they  are  in  India.  I  could  write  an  equally  sensational 
report  if  I  were  to  write  things  as  I  found  them  in  the 
den  of  this  loathsome  man.  He  is  since  dead.  How  can 
one  account  for  the  fact  that  in  framing  laws  for  governments 
and  chartered  companies,  supposed  to  exist  first  of  all  for  the 
protection  of  the  native,  not  a  single  clause  has  been  introduced 
empowering  His  Majesty's  Commissioners  in  the  field  to  protect 
the  native  from  the  scum  of  Europe  ? 

"  Night  after  night  as  we  journeyed  eastward  I  was  enabled 
to  spend  hours  in  prayer  for  deserted  and  forsaken  N.W. 
Rhodesia.  But  for  the  few  missionaries  in  the  Barotse  territory 
and  at  Kalene  and  a  small  beginning  near  Ndola,  N.W.  Rhodesia 
is  without  the  Gospel.  Hitherto  one  had  looked  to  young 
evangelists  from  the  assemblies  of  the  '  Brethren  '  in  Britain 
to  come  forward  to  fill  these  open  doors.  But  surely  we  are 
unequal  to  this  gigantic  task.  Men  from  '  other  ships  '  must 
be  called  upon  to  come  to  the  help  of  the  Lord."  Since  then 
Mr.  Bailey,  on  behalf  of  the  S.A.  General  Mission,  has  opened 
two  stations  here  about ;  and  on  behalf  of  the  Baptists  of  South 
Africa,  Mr.  Doke  of  Johannesburg,  with  his  son,  determined 
to  go  north  and  see  for  himself  whether  these  things  were  true, 


804  SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS 

and  although  the  journey  to  the  valley  of  the  Kafue  cost  Mr, 
Doke  his  life,  the  work  he  had  it  on  his  heart  to  do  will  be  taken 
up  by  others. 

Returning  to  Johannesburg,  Arnot  started  on  his  seventh 
journey  to  the  interior  in  1910.  A  portion  of  this  trip  was 
occupied  with  assisting  Mr.  Bailey  of  the  S.A.  General  Mission 
in  settling  at  Kansanshi  in  North-Western  Rhodesia. 

On  March  8th,  he  writes:  "Mr.  Bailey  and  I  have  been 
talking  over  Kansanshi.  He  is  keen,  I  can  see,  on  my  staying 
with  him.  At  present  he  is  finding  it  difficult  to  make  a  start 
at  the  language,  and  alone  on  a  site  without  even  trusty  boys 
by  him,  would  be  an  almost  impossible  position.  He  wants 
me  to  try  and  put  the  language  in  some  shape.  Certainly  I  do 
not  see  how  he  is  going  to  make  much  headway  alone  with  such 
a  tangle  of  dialects.  .  .  .  Nothing  would  be  more  to  my  mind 
than  helping  in  gathering  an  elementary  knowledge  of 
Chikaonda. 

"  March  12ih. — I  am  working  at  the  Chikaonda  now  every 
day,  and  it  is  very  like  Luba,  so  I  will  be  of  some  help.  I 
could  not  have  a  task  more  congenial. 

"  To-day  we  crossed  the  Lenge  and  the  Lufmiyama  in  boats 
and  waded  waist  deep  for  a  mile  or  so.  The  people  here  insist 
that  their  name  is  '  the  people  of  God,'  and  disclaim  all  con- 
nection with  the  tribes  north  and  south  of  them.  Walking 
through  a  clump  of  very  long  grass  I  found  myself  in  the  midst 
of  a  herd  of  wild  animals  sleeping.  The  snorting  and  stamping 
on  every  hand  was  most  alarming,  but  I  saw  nothing,  although 
some  heavy  animals  like  buffalo  must  have  passed  quite  close 
to  me.  The  groArth  of  grass  makes  one  feel  very  small,  and 
only  suitable  for  elephants.  Indeed  in  places  the  country  is 
quite  trodden  down  by  these  monsters,  and  the  footpath  we 
have  to  follow  seems  to  be  their  favourite  highway." 

On  March  20th,  he  writes  to  the  boys  at  home  :  "  Here  we 
are  in  the  wilds  and  wets,  but  beautifully  cool.  Rain  has 
fallen  daily  and  now  that  we  are  past  the  swamps  we  don't 
mind  so  much.  Fancy  trudging  along  at  the  rate  of  twelve 
miles  a  day,  for  that  is  really  about  our  average.  ...  I  have 
left  Mr.  Bailey  to  do  the  shooting  and  have  only  killed  a  bush 
buck.  They  have  very  nicely  shaped  horns,  so  I  am  bringing 
these  home  with  me.  I  have  also  a  fine  pair  of  boar's  tusks  to 
bring  home.    Mr.  Bailey  succeeded  in  kilUng  a  large  antelope 


SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS  305 

so  the  men  have  plenty  of  meat.  Mr.  Bailey  has  lots  of  funny 
stories.  He  has  just  told  mc  of  a  boy  who  was  asked  to  make 
a  sentence  with  '  toward  '  in  it.  The  boy  wrote  '  I  tored  my 
pants.'  Another  was  asked  to  write  a  sentence  Avith  '  boys,' 
'  bees  '  and  '  bear '  in  it,  thinking  he  would  write  about  a  bear 
stealing  a  boy's  honey.  But  lo !  the  sentence  ran  in  the 
exercise  book  :  '  Boys  bees  bare  when  they  are  swimming.' 
Another  of  his  stories  is  about  a  little  girl.  The  teacher  asked 
her  to  write  a  sentence  containing  the  expression  '  bitter  end.' 
She  wrote,  '  Our  neighbour's  dog  chased  my  kitten,  and  just 
as  she  ran  under  the  porch  he  bit  her  end.'  .  .  .  Yesterday 
a  monkey  came  looking  at  us.  My  boy  asked  the  loan  of  my 
gun  and  shot  her,  for  it  was  a  little  girl  monkey,  so  to-day  we 
are  teasing  the  men  about  eating  their  little  sister." 

On  the  way  to  Kansanshi  the  travellers  stopped  at  Miamba, 
on  March  25th.  The  chief  of  the  district,  Miamba,  came  round 
in  the  afternoon  with  another  old  man.  "  After  looking  a  long 
time  with  a  long  enquiring  look,"  Arnot  says,  "  he  asked  me  if 
I  was  Monare  who  had  built  between  the  chief  Msidi's  town  and 
Msidi's  brother,  Salushia,  many  years  ago.  I  said  I  was,  and 
involuntarily  we  both  stretched  out  our  hands  and  half  rubbed 
and  half  slapped  their  palms  together.  '  Yes  !  '  he  said,  '  and 
I  was  there  at  the  time.  With  all  my  people  we  lived  by  the 
Bunkeya  until  the  Belgians  came,  then  we  left  and  came  here.' 
So  quite  unwittingly  we  have  come  and  built  by  a  group  of 
Msidi's  scattered  people. 

"  March  2Qth. — Our  camp  is  partly  surrounded  by  a  thicket 
of  tall  trees,  where  baboons  and  monkeys  find  a  retreat  when 
they  come  near  the  fields  of  ripening  corn  belonging  to  the 
neighbouring  village.  Last  night  these  trees  were  simply  alive 
with  baboons,  the  branches  swaying  and  bending  as  before  a 
strong  wind.  We  could  almost  hear  the  monkeys  speak  in 
their  endless  chatter.  At  last  night  grew  on  and  all  seemed 
to  settle  to  sleep,  for  monkeys  only  raid  in  the  daytime.  My 
men  kept  up  a  flow  of  jibing  remarks  at  their  hairy  brothers 
as  one  was  heard  jostling  the  other,  or  when  a  young  monkey 
was  evidently  being  punished  for  his  impudence,  or  when  a 
baby  monkey  would  start  up  from  a  bad  dream  and  scream, 
when  the  mother's  low  soothing  grunt  would  be  distinctly 
heard.  Altogether  it  was  one  of  the  strangest  nights  I  have 
passed  for  a  long  time." 
u 


306    SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS 

Arriving  at  the  spot  selected  for  the  station,  Arnot  immedi- 
ately took  in  hand  the  building  of  a  house  for  Mr.  Bailey. 
Having  to  see  to  walls,  doors,  wndows,  thatch,  etc.,  he  was 
unable  to  leave  for  some  time.  The  house  was  built  out  of 
the  material  to  hand  in  the  forest. 

He  wrote  to  Mrs.  Arnot  on  April  24th  :  "  My  last  was 
written  before  going  off  for  a  day  in  the  veldt,  but  I  did  not 
go  far.  Three  or  four  miles  does  me  up  completely  now,  and 
I  turned  back  before  reaching  the  game.  My  heart  seems  to 
give  out.  I  must  try  and  sell  Walter's  bike,  and  stick  to  carriers. 
.  .  ,  We  are  still  having  rain  here — so  late  in  the  season — 
and  my  bricks  are  not  improving.  The  door  frames  are  all 
made  and  we  are  at  window  frames  and  if  we  only  had  a  few 
dry  days  I  would  start  the  building.  We  have  twenty  men 
working,  and  I  have  only  to  direct  them,  but  the  house  when 
finished  will  be  really  good.  Two  men  are  good  at  the  pit  saw, 
and  all  the  door  and  window  frames  have  been  sawn  out.  I 
am  making  all  the  window  casements.  We  had  a  good  meeting 
at  village  to-day,  over  sixty  attending  and  entreating  us  to 
go  on.  I  think  one  of  our  boys  has  received  something.  He 
is  very  bright  and  quite  a  help  already.  .  .  .  Do  you  know  I 
have  never  been  into  Kansanshi  yet,  that  gay  city  of  thirty 
whites.  I  have  kept  to  my  work  here  steadily,  and  already 
with  our  boys,  young  and  old,  and  day  school,  and  midday 
service,  and  building  going  up,  and  piles  of  material,  the  forest 
has  been  transformed  into  a  Mission  Station." 

To  his  daughter  W^innie  he  writes  :  "I  have  found  some 
perfect  orchids  growing  here.  One  kind  is  not  so  large,  but 
the  flower  has  every  shade  of  colour  between  light  pink  and 
purple  blue.  The  other  is  in  full  flower  just  now,  a  lovely  pure 
white,  and  about  the  size  of  a  garden  daisy.  Although  quite 
curious  in  shape,  these  white  flowers  hang  in  sprays  about  six 
to  eight  inches  long,  and  they  have  a  very  sweet  smell." 

On  the  14th  of  May  he  went  to  stay  overnight  at  Kansanshi 
so  that  he  could  preach  to  the  Europeans  on  Sunday,  the  15th. 
Concerning  this  he  WTote  :  "  I  had  quite  a  good  hearing.  There 
is  a  fine  open  door  here  for  Mr.  Bailey.  I  stayed  with  the 
manager  of  the  mine,  and  he  put  me  up  royally,  only  his  dog 
chewed  up  my  hat,  so  he  sent  down  to  the  store  for  '  the  best 
they  had.'  I  have  a  very  good  new  hat,  so  next  time  I  go 
in  I  am  going  to  look  out  a  few  other  articles  that  may  take  the 


SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS  307 

manager's  dog's  fancy  and  get  a  new  fit  out.  ...  I  am  sending 
a  python  skin  by  this  mail,  and  some  pretty  birds'  wings.  .  ,  . 
I  am  sending  too  a  parcel  of  really  handsome  orchids.  I  have 
seen  nothing  like  these,  and  they  ought  to  be  valuable. 

"  May  20ih,  1210. — We  have  just  heard  of  King  Edward's 
death  and  I  have  been  asked  to  go  in  and  hold  a  memorial 
service  at  Kansanshi,  but  Mr.  Bailey  is  going  instead,  the 
distance  is  too  far  for  me.  .  .  .  The  King's  death  may  change 
my  plans  and  instead  of  going  to  Kalene,  etc.,  I  will  go  to 
Liwanika.  A  Mr.  Hazell  has  come  here  from  the  Barotse.  He 
was  chief  magistrate  there.  He  seems  to  think  I  ought  to  go 
as  Liwanika  has  no  one  that  he  relies  on  to  give  him  advice. 
Liwanika  was  going  to  meet  the  Prince  of  Wales  at  Livingstone  ; 
now  he  is  not  likely  to  leave  his  capital.  This  would  take  me 
through  a  lot  of  new  country. 

"  Mr.  Bailey  understands  that  I  will  not  be  able  to  remain 
with  him  after  July  1st.  By  that  time  I  hope  to  have  his  house 
finished.  At  Kansanshi  the  preaching  services  are  improving ; 
beginning  with  fifteen,  we  have  advanced  to  forty,  some  farmers 
and  their  families  coming  in  on  foot  four  miles,  all  Dutch. 
There  are  three  small  attempts  at  farming  being  made  by  three 
Dutchmen. 

"  The  Koni  friends  are  anxious  to  see  me,  but  I  must  not 
overdo  it.  I  have  decided  that  I  will  go  only  where  I  am 
needed.  Somehow  I  have  so  little  reserve  strength  that  I  am 
going  to  pay  no  more  friendly  visits.  I  have  finished  seven 
door  frames,  so  am  taking  a  day  off  to-morrow.  My  poor  hands 
will  be  glad  of  a  rest  from  cuts  and  knocks  and  bruises — '  when 
father  carved  the  duck  '  business — but  a  house  had  to  be 
built. 

"  Mr.  Bishop,  the  acting  magistrate  at  Kansanshi,  has  been 
telling  us  of  a  revolting  case  of  witchcraft,  or  a  feast  connected 
with  the  crime  of  witchcraft  that  he  had  to  look  into  and  punish 
the  chiefs  involved.  For  some  reason  or  other  the  body  of  a 
woman  and  child,  who  had  recently  died,  were  disinterred,  and 
the  heart  of  the  woman  when  tasted  was  discarded  as  bitter  ; 
but  the  heart  of  the  child  was  sweet,  so  its  corpse  was  danced 
round  and  eaten,  and  all  who  partook  of  this  revolting  feast, 
and  had  danced  around  with  one  of  the  child's  bones  in  his  or 
her  mouth  was  made  immune  from  all  evil  influences,  and 
would  have  power  to  bewitch  all  their  enemies.    The  ordeal  of 


308     SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS 

the  boiling  water  test  for  witchcraft  is  still  in  vogue  among  the 
Vakonde. 

"  May  26tk. — Here  I  am  again  preparing  for  a  move.  All 
seems  in  train  for  my  going  to  Liwanika.  I  can  have  as  many 
men  as  I  need  for  that  route.  ...  I  have  been  three  months 
and  more  with  Bailey  and  have  seen  the  house  walls  up  and  the 
roof  fairly  completed.  I  have  also  kept  at  the  language  study, 
and  to-day  have  helped  to  plant  a  patch  of  potatoes.  Tell  the 
boys  that  the  natives  have  brought  me  a  mouse  monkey  about 
the  size  of  my  thumb,  full  grown.  It  has  fingers  and  thumbs 
and  looks  so  pretty.  I  am  bringing  it  home  in  a  tin  like  a  milk 
tin. 

"  On  Thursday,  June  2nd,  I  left  for  Kasempa.  We  passed 
villages  for  the  first  and  second  day  in  fair  numbers.  Then 
came  a  long,  desolate  forest  tramp  for  twenty  miles,  but  the 
great  trees  were  very  fine  to  look  on,  and  I  shot  a  very  large 
yellow  pigeon,  and  another  handsome  bird  of  the  parrot  kind, 
both  good  eating — but  together  they  represented  almost  every 
shade  of  colour.  We  crossed  two  large  rivers  full  of  water  from 
the  Congo  watershed  and  camped  at  Kazembo's,  the  centre, 
I  should  say,  of  quite  a  district,  and  here  I  rested  for  Sunday. 
Not  feeling  over  well  either  ;  my  old  road  trouble  agrees 
neither  with  cycle  riding  nor  hammock  riding. 

"  Kasempa,  June  8th. — Arrived  at  this  delightful  station 
late  in  the  evening,  and  after  paying  off  my  men,  moved  into 
a  room  in  the  District  Commissioner's  house  as  Mr.  Hazell's 
guest,  so  that  I  seem  to  be  getting  everything  my  own  way 
again,  and  much  too  comfortable.  INIr.  Hazell  has  been  H.IM. 
Commissioner  in  the  Barotse  and  friend  of  Liwanika's,  and 
I  think  will  help  me  all  he  can. 

"  June  11th. — Here  I  am  awaiting  carriers  to  turn  up.  I  am 
right,  I  think,  in  doing  a  little  exploring  if  I  can  in  new  districts, 
rather  than  in  running  home  as  my  one  bent  is,  pell-mell. 
The  Lord  must  have  our  best,  and  the  country  west  of  here 
is  almost  unexplored,  and  plenty  of  people,  they  say.  My 
plan  is  to  take  a  detour  west  to  the  Zambesi,  then  south  to 
Liwanika's.  I  am  walling  to  help  open  fresh  centres.  Some 
may  be  stirred  up  to  occupy  the  field. 

"  June  19th. — My  ten  days'  wait  at  Kasempa  has  been  made 
very  pleasant  by  the  constant  kindness  of  Mr.  Hazell.  He  has 
nearly  all  N.W.  Khodesia  under  his  jurisdiction.     Yesterday 


SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS    309 

he  surprised  me  by  asking  if  twelve  carriers  would  suit  me  as 
that  number  had  come  in  that  morning  for  work.  When  the 
carriers  heard  that  the  distant  Barotse  Valley  was  my  destina- 
tion they  hesitated,  and  a  few  drew  back.  At  last,  after  some 
talk  among  themselves,  and  a  long  look  at  me,  they  all  came 
back  saying  they  were  willing  to  go  with  me,  so  I  hastily 
packed  up  and  left  to-day,  doing  a  good  sixteen  miles.  I  am 
quite  excited  at  the  thought  of  being  back  at  my  old  field. 

"  June  23rd. — After  five  days  fair  travelling  (about  sixteen 
miles  a  day)  I  have  arrived  at  the  first  place,  Lutoba,  that 
has  seemed  to  attract  me  and  might  prove  to  be  a  suitable 
site  for  a  Mission  Station,  not  so  much  from  the  crowds  of 
people  found  here,  as  from  their  homely  welcome,  from  the 
headsman  down  to  the  children.  All  along  villages  have  been 
close  to  one  another,  and  the  valley  of  the  Dongwe,  so  far,  is 
all  that  it  is  reported  to  be,  a  fairly  populous  district.  It  is 
difficult  to  name  villages  and  headmen,  however,  and  after 
having  found  the  correct  name  of  the  headman,  etc.,  it  is 
still  more  difficult  to  find  him  at  home,  chiefly  owing  to  the 
strange  Kaonde  custom  that  demands  that  when  a  man 
marries  a  woman  he  goes  to  live  at  the  woman's  village,  and 
the  children  belong  to  her  relatives,  so  in  the  case  of  chiefs 
and  headmen  they  have  so  many  villages  to  live  in  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  as  they  have  wives — a  scattered  household. 
At  first  it  seemed  impossible  to  believe  that  this  custom  was 
really  in  practice,  but  after  hearing  Mr.  Hazell  lecturing  a 
company  of  chiefs  in  his  district  on  the  evils  of  the  custom, 
and  on  the  difficulties  produced  by  it,  I  had  no  longer  any 
doubt.  The  women,  in  fact,  rule  the  Bakaonde,  and  this  may 
account  for  the  fact  that  the  men  are  evidently  home  dwellers 
and  do  their  full  share  of  cultivation,  although  they  have 
never  been  a  strong  tribe  and  have  been  preyed  upon  by  their 
neighbours. 

"  June  25th. — To-day  we  have  left  the  Kaonde  villages 
behind,  and  are  now  in  the  country  of  theBambunda,  Liwanika's 
territory.  The  soil  seems  to  have  changed  from  a  hard  grey 
clay  to  Barotse  sand,  and  an  old  man  going  along  with  a  hoe 
and  axe  to  sell,  knelt  down  and  gave  me  the  regular  Serotse 
greeting  with  his  head  bending  down  to  the  ground. 

"  June  26th. — Quite  refreshing  to-day  to  arrive  at  a  very 
well-peopled  district.     The  chief,  Kashinda,  comes  from  the 


310  SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS 

Barotse,  and  he  recognised  me.  His  people  are  all  Bambunda, 
and  carry  on  the  clever  basket-making  industry  that  has  made 
the  Barotse  baskets  famous.  The  men  seemed  to  understand 
and  speak  Sekololo,  but  the  women  spoke  the  language  of  the 
Bambunda,  which  is  a  mixture  of  Umbunda  and  Luba,  so  that 
I  understood  all  they  said.  One  of  my  own  Kaonde  men  gave 
them  quite  an  address  in  their  Bambunda  language,  not 
knowing  that  I  was  able  to  follow  him.  This,  he  said,  pointing 
to  me,  is  the  great  Monare  who  lived  in  the  Barotse  when  you 
were  all  children.  He  has  been  away  teaching  the  Lunda 
tribes,  and  Congo  State  people,  and  now  they  all  can  read  and 
write  and  count  shillings,  and  when  these  people  come  to  the 
white  men's  stores  they  tell  the  white  men  that  they  can  read 
and  count  shillings,  and  the  white  man  does  not  cheat  them,  etc. 

"  It  is  interesting  to  notice  change  of  custom,  clothing  and 
general  appearance,  as  well  as  language,  and  the  customs 
mixed  up  •with  other  distant  tribes  as  well  as  the  language. 
They  appear  to  have  more  in  common  with  tribes  living 
800  or  400  miles  aAvay  than  with  their  immediate  neighbours. 
But  this  is  often  the  case.  Here  I  met  a  woman  carrying  a 
basket  on  her  back  with  a  strap  round  her  forehead.  The 
Bachokwe  women  in  West  Central  Africa  are  the  only  others 
I  have  seen  doing  the  same,  except  our  New  Haven  fish  wives. 
The  boys  set  rat-traps  as  the  boys  do  in  Bihe.  I  have  not  seen 
the  same  trap  anywhere  else,  neither  have  I  heard  the  word 
'  landa,'  used  for  '  buy  '  in  any  other  tribe  except  among  the 
Ovimbundu  of  Bihe  districts,  and  here  ;  and  the  name  for 
God  amongst  the  Bambunda  is  Suka. 

''Long.  24°  40",  E.  Lat.  11°  35",  S.  Luena  River,  Monkoya 
country,  June  27th,  1910. — I  have  safely  crossed  the  unexplored 
part  of  my  journey  from  Kasempa  and  have  struck  Major 
Quick's  route,  my  mapping  being  very  close  and  has  fitted 
in  with  his.  Still  I  am  six  days  off  the  capital.  The  bush  has 
been  very  thick  and  trackless,  but  when  almost  at  my  wits' 
end  for  a  guide  a  man  came  along  with  two  children  to  say 
he  was  awaiting  an  opportunity  of  going  to  the  Barotse  and 
would  I  let  him  go  with  me  as  guide  ;  he  had  been  there  before, 
I  am  sticking  to  my  hammock  now  as  the  country  is  more 
open.  Indeed  it  is  almost  continuous  plain  now  to  Liwanika's, 
In  my  letter  to  him  I  say  I  am  not  going  to  remain  long  but 
will  want  a  boat  to  take  me  to  Livingstone.    I  am  anxious  to 


SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS    311 

be  home.  In  spite  of  having  a  good  cook  my  inside  seems  to 
be  hopelessly  wrong.  I  am  simply  living  on  quinine,  bismuth, 
and  tinned  milk.  Now  I  can  buy  cow's  milk.  When  staying 
at  Kansanshi  I  was  all  right,  and  the  week  at  Kasempa  gave 
me  a  respite.  I  must  keep  to  the  railway  next  trip  and  stay 
in  one  place  as  much  as  possible.  But  oh  !  for  100  missionaries 
for  the  country  I  have  just  passed  through.  And  what  crowds 
of  children  in  their  hidden  forest  homes.  Our  missionary 
machinery  seems  all  too  heavy  and  cumbersome.  We  need 
a  new  order  of  forest  missionaries  living  in  tents  and  taking 
in  wide  circuits.  .  .  .  Tell  the  boys  that  I  killed  two  geese 
to-day  with  one  rifle  shot  at  150  yards  using  the  new  Bisley 
peep  sight.  But  the  country  is  so  overgrown  with  grass  and 
forest  that  although  there  was  plenty  of  game  about  I  did 
not  hunt,  and  shot  nothing.  One  night  we  seemed  to  sleep 
in  a  regular  zoological  garden.  We  heard  such  a  variety  of 
roars  and  howls  and  laughing  howls,  and  antelopes  calling 
each  other,  and  ducks  and  geese  quacking  as  morning  broke. 
Yesterday  an  old  man  recognised  me  and  was  full  of  talk  of 
the  old  days,  just  on  thirty  years  ago. 

"  On  the  4th  July  I  arrived  at  M.  Coisson's  and  M.  Voulet's 
station.  They  gave  me  a  hearty  welcome,  and  said  that  they 
were  all  going  over  to  Sefula  in  two  days'  time  to  attend  the 
Annual  Conference  in  connection  with  their  Mission,  when  all 
the  missionaries  would  assemble  for  a  week,  as  well  as  a  fresh 
party  from  home,  and  that  I  would  be  welcome.  Well  !  I  saw 
Liwanika  that  afternoon,  and  talked  over  all  his  plans  and 
private  matters.  He  was  exceedingly  friendly,  almost  took 
me  in  his  arms. 

"  On  the  6th  I  was  able  to  come  on  to  Sefula  to  the  Con- 
ference, and  called  at  the  Chief  Magistrate's  post  en  route. 
He  gave  me  quite  a  welcome  and  talked  over  the  history  of  the 
Barotse  country  for  several  hours.  His  wife  was  a  missionary 
in  the  Livingstonia  Mission. 

"  Sefula  is  the  principal  station  of  the  Mission.  Here  M. 
and  Madame  Coillard  lie  buried.  The  Sefula  is  the  name  of 
a  river  flowing  into  the  Zambesi,  and  provides  water  for  the 
Mission  gardens  and  drives  a  water  ram  supplying  the  Station 
with  abundance  of  water.  M.  Bouehet's  house  too  is  quite  a 
fine  affair  and  all  enclosed  with  netting.  There  seem  to  be 
plenty  of  people  about  too.     Here  I   can  have  one  of  the 


312     SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS 

Mission  boats  to  take  me  to  within  forty  miles  of  Livingstone, 
so  I  was  able  to  pay  off  my  men,  and  here  I  am  free  again 
from  carriers  and  for  the  next  step.  I  cannot  but  feel,  however, 
as  if  I  had  been  guided  in  coming  here  just  in  time  for  the 
Conference. 

"  Sefula,  Barotse,  July  6th,  1910. — Here  I  am  at  last  heading 
for  home.  My  diary  tells  you  how  I  got  along.  And  I  am 
really  very  well,  although  tired.  But  sorry  I  wrote  you  from 
the  Luena  of  my  road  troubles.  It  is  my  spleen,  wabble 
wabbling,  that  seems  to  upset  me.  I  am  better  already  and 
the  boat  journey  \\dll  be  most  enjoyable.  .  .  .  The  French 
missionaries  are  very  warm.  They  have  welcomed  us  with 
plenty  of  compliments,  and  the  natives  are  coming  to  see  me 
as  a  sort  of  curio.  The  king's  private  business  is  he  wants  me 
to  take  messages  direct  to  the  High  Commissioner  in  S.  Africa 
and  to  take  charge  of  two  of  his  sons  and  have  them  educated 
in  S.  Africa.  I  was  not  able  to  encourage  him  with  either 
proposal.  However,  I  am  glad  I  saw  him  again.  He  urged 
me  again  to  begin  mission  work  in  his  country  and  open  up 
stations  among  the  tribes  to  the  N.E.  We  talked  of  the  old 
days  when  he  looked  upon  all  the  tribes  to  the  north  of  the- 
Barotse  as  '  his  dogs.'  Then  he  would  not  allow  me  to  visit 
them.  Now  he  is  willing  to  do  all  in  his  power.  M.  A.  Jalla, 
and  the  missionaries  who  have  carried  on  M.  Coillard's  work, 
assured  me  of  every  assistance  if  I  decided  to  make  use  of  the 
Zambesi  River  again. 

"  July  11th. — I  took  leave  of  the  friends  at  Sefula,  M.  and 
Md.  Bouchet  and  their  visitors  ;  and  riding  for  two  hours 
across  the  plain  I  came  to  the  river,  where  I  found  my  boxes 
already  in  the  boat  kindly  provided  to  take  me  to  Nalolo, 
where  I  arrived  about  sunset  and  was  met  by  M.  and  Madame 
Lageard,  the  kindest  of  people. 

"  July  12th. — Visited  my  old  friend  Mokwx,  the  queen,  in 
her  very  fine  house.  The  central  reception  room  would  equal 
in  elegance  and  good  taste  much  that  passes  for  artistic  style 
in  the  houses  of  the  rich.  M.  Lageard  and  I  were  each  shown 
to  comfortable  seats,  and  Her  Majesty,  who  had  on  a  straw  hat 
with  pink  ribbon  and  aigrette  plumes  stuck  all  round,  took  her 
own  chair,  a  very  wide  one,  but  even  that  was  not  wide  enough. 
and  when  she  wanted  to  rise  I  saw  her  husband  had  to  half 
pull  her  out  from  between  the  arms  of  the  chair.    We  were 


SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  JOURNEYS    313 

then  invited  to  sit  down  to  lunch,  and  this  time  Her  Majesty's 
chair  consisted  of  a  settee  sufficient  for  two  people,  which  she 
filled  admirably.  She  spread  herself  out  with  a  contented 
smile  between  its  wooden  arms,  like  her  own  Zambesi  River 
flowing  comfortably  between  her  banks.  Wild  duck,  fish, 
brown  bread,  coffee  and  milk,  were  brought  in  by  waiters,  who 
knelt  as  they  placed  the  dishes  on  the  full-sized  dining-room 
table  with  its  white  and  pink  damask  cloth.  All  went  well 
until  the  unfortunate  husband  spilled  the  jug  of  hot  milk. 
The  queen's  smile  instantly  vanished,  and  a  deep  Kaffir  a  u — u 
brought  in  the  waiters  with  a  run,  and  woke  up  the  courtyard 
outside,  and  several  of  the  counsellors  and  cabinet  ministers 
looked  in  at  the  door.  But  nothing  very  serious  came  of  it. 
The  husband  saved  his  head  by  declaring  that  it  wasn't  he, 
but  the  sleeve  of  his  coat  that  upset  the  milk.  The  waiters 
sopped  it  up,  and  the  queen  accepted  the  explanation,  and  the 
smile  came  back  again.  We  then  called  on  Mokwac's  daughter, 
who  is  a  queen  over  a  district  and  is  visiting  her  inother.  She 
looks  quite  a  character,  too,  and  in  a  fit  of  madness,  the  mis- 
sionary Lageard  told  me,  she  ordered  all  the  husbands  and 
wives  in  her  domain  to  change  around,  her  chief  idea  being 
to  try  and  make  every  person  as  unhappy  as  she  herself  was. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE    EIGHTH    JOURNEY 

IN  January,  1911,  Arnot,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  started 
for  the  Zambesi  to  proceed  through  the  Barotse  Valley, 
to  the  Kabompo  Valley,  where  he  built  a  little  three- 
roomed  house  at  the  junction  of  the  Zambesi,  the  Kabompo 
and  the  Lungebungu  rivers,  which  meet  at  one  point  like- 
the  three  toes  of  a  hen's  foot  and  represent,  at  least,  one 
thousand  miles  of  water  navigable  by  canoes.  This  district 
is  called  by  the  Chartered  Company  the  Balovale.  For  a  few 
happy  months  Arnot  and  his  wife  were  the  only  white  inhabi- 
tants in  it,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Palmer,  the  Native 
Commissioner.    Arnot  wrote  of  this  journey  as  follows  : 

"  Usually  the  dry  season  is  the  most  suitable  for  travelling 
in  South  Central  Africa,  but  the  Zambesi  is  a  river  by  itself. 
After  the  rainy  season  the  marshes  and  lagoons  remain  wet, 
and  the  long  grass  and  reeds  damp  and  rotting  until  July. 
Then  the  river  is  low.  August,  September  and  October  are 
very  hot  months,  so  that  it  is  better  to  wait  until  the  rains 
fall,  when  the  weather  is  cooler  and  the  river  begins  to  rise. 
January  is  perhaps  a  little  late.  Unusually  heavy  rains  were 
falling,  compelling  us  to  wait  for  two  days  in  our  gipsy  tent. 
At  last  the  clouds  broke  and  our  shivering  canoe  man  scrambled 
up  the  dripping  bank,  landing  our  goods  into  the  canoes  and 
off  for  Shesheke,  where  we  were  warmly  welcomed  by  Dr. 
Renter.  I  was  surprised  to  find  Litia,  the  oldest  son  of  Liwanika 
looking  so  old.  Thirty-three  years  ago  he  was  a  boy  of  ten  or 
twelve  years  of  age,  bringing  me  a  supply  of  milk  from  his 
father's  cows  every  morning,  and  now  he  is  nearly  bald.  His 
life  has  not  been  an  even  one.  He  fled  with  his  father  towards 
Ngami  when  Mataha's  revolution  broke  out.  Afterwards 
under  M.  Coillard's  teaching  he  professed  conversion  and 
bore  a  bright  testimony ;  but  a  Mosutu  '  evangelist,'  who 
had  been  trusted  by  the  French  missionaries,  taught  him  how 

314 


THE   EIGHTH   JOURNEY  315 

easy  it  was  for  a  king's  son  to  live  a  double  life,  and  secretly 
have  more  than  one  wife.  Since  those  days  Litia  has  tried 
again  and  again  to  pick  himself  out  of  the  mud  of  polygamy, 
but  only  to  sink  deeper  into  the  wretchedness  of  it.  For  from 
every  point  of  view  polygamy  is  an  unhappy  affair.  In  the 
old  brutal  days  when  a  man  could  beat  or  even  kill  his  wives, 
he  was  able  to  put  down  intrigue.  But  under  milder,  semi- 
civilised  laws,  his  case  is  hopeless.  Jealous  women  kill  each 
other's  children,  or  kill  their  own  in  embryo,  as  a  protest 
against  being  isolated  for  two  years  or  so  during  which  time 
some  miserable  inferior  reigns  as  queen  of  the  compound.  Litia 
had  come  to  the  decision,  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  to  dismiss 
all  his  wives,  making  thus  a  clean  sweep  of  all  his  difficulties. 
And,  '  if  he  did  so,'  he  enquired  of  the  missionaries,  '  would 
they  allow  him  to  become  a  member  of  the  Church  again  ?  ' 
Against  their  advice  he  divorced  all  his  wives,  and,  with  his 
father's  consent,  married  another,  who  was  to  be  his  '  one 
wife  '  this  time.  But  neither  has  this  last  move  brought  peace 
to  his  heart  or  hearth.  Nine-tenths  of  the  missionary's  and 
the  young  convert's  difficulties  in  Central  Africa  circle  around 
the  marriage  question,  and  it  cannot  be  settled  by  majority 
vote  at  a  missionary  conference. 

"  Shesheke  has  been  affected  a  good  deal  by  the  town 
Livingstone  coming  so  near,  and  the  railway,  so  that  it  is 
not  the  centre  of  population  that  it  used  to  be.  When  we 
embarked  again  a  crowd  of  school  children  saw  us  off,  singing 
sweet  old  Waldensian  and  Huguenot  airs.  A  spell  of  fine 
weather  now  set  in.  The  Zambesi  had  risen  just  sufficiently 
to  allow  us  to  climb  the  rapids  comfortably.  And  words 
cannot  describe  the  pleasure  of  a  canoe  journey  up  the  Zambesi 
under  such  circumstances.  The  river  flows  so  clean  and 
clear  all  the  year  round.  White  sand-banks  covered  with 
water-fowl,  hundreds  of  islands  studded  with  palm  trees  and 
clothed  with  verdure  to  the  water's  edge,  and  but  for  an 
occasional  angry  hippo,  and  man-eating  crocodile,  the  scene 
might  be  laid  in  Paradise.  As  we  approached  the  Gonye 
Falls  the  river  became  deep  and  rapid  so  that  it  was  no  easy 
matter  steering  our  long,  heavily  laden  canoes.  The  dimensions 
of  the  larger  ones  are  40  ft.  long  by  3  ft.  wide  and  14  inches  deep, 
most  outrageous  measurements,  and  but  for  the  skill  of  the 
canoe  men  there  would  be  many  more  accidents.     The  men 


316  THE   EIGHTH   JOURNEY 

stand  and  pole  their  way  along,  only  occasionally  do  they 
use  the  flattened  end  of  their  poles  as  paddles.  When  they 
fail  to  make  headway  in  the  rapids  they  either  jump  into  the 
water  and  push  the  canoe  up,  or  carry  the  end  of  a  strong  rope, 
made  from  palm  fronds,  to  the  bank  and  tow.  The  bow  of  the 
canoe  is  shaped  like  the  head  of  an  arrow,  and  the  tow  rope 
fastened  above  the  barbs  of  the  '  arrow-head  '  cannot  slip, 
and  a  combined  force  of  twenty  men  often  had  to  pull  one 
canoe  at  a  time  through  a  torrent  of  raging  water.  When 
close  up  to  the  Gonye  Falls  we  found  a  span  of  twelve 
oxen  awaiting  us,  by  the  king's  orders,  to  draw  our  canoes 
overland,  a  distance  of  three  miles,  to  the  quieter  water  above. 

"  When  walking  across  the  hauling  trail,  imagine  our  surprise 
and  delight  at  meeting  our  boy  Dick,  now  looking  quite  old 
and  grey.  He  followed  me  on  my  first  journey,  and  remained 
so  true  and  faithful.  Pay  or  no  pay  was  a  matter  of  no  moment 
to  him.  Night  and  day  he  served  me.  Once  when  tossing  in 
a  burning  fever  I  longed  for  a  hot  bath,  but  there  was  no  water 
in  the  camp,  and  the  nearest  water  hole  was  fully  three  miles 
away,  but  when  I  called  for  Dick  and  told  him  how  I  thought 
a  hot  bath  would  relieve  me,  he  at  once  shouldered  the  water 
keg  and  with  his  spear  in  hand  strode  off  into  the  darkness  of 
the  forest  in  a  lion-infested  country.  Leaving  him  with  Mr. 
Swann  in  the  Garenganze  I  found  him,  after  my  first  six 
months'  visit  home,  standing  on  the  end  of  the  Benguella 
jetty.  He  had  travelled  1200  miles  to  meet  us,  not  to  figure 
as  the  '  white  man's  '  pet  servant,  but  to  carry  the  heaviest 
load  he  could  find  in  the  camp,  of  pots  and  cooking  utensils 
for  a  party  of  eight  missionaries.  When  the  Barotse  declared 
the  liberation  of  all  their  slaves  Dick  thought  he  would  like  to 
return  and  spend  the  rest  of  his  days  among  his  own  people. 
And  King  Liwanika,  recognising  his  value  as  a  faithful  man, 
put  him  in  charge  of  much  valuable  property.  He  was  still 
willing  to  come  with  us  again,  but  as  he  was  earning  five  times 
more  money  than  I  could  think  of  paying  him  I  advised  him 
to  remain  where  he  was. 

"  As  we  paddled  on,  the  wooded  hills  on  each  bank  of  the 
river  began  to  widen  out,  and  grassy  plains  appeared,  until  at 
last  we  had  fairly  entered  the  famous  Barotse  Valley,  teeming 
with  cattle  and  people.  The  river  began  to  twist  about  now, 
making  the  journey  long,  and  we  were  glad  to  reach  Nalolo 


THE   EIGHTH   JOURNEY  317 

the  town  of  Mokwoc,  Liwanika's  sister,  and  the  titular  queen 
of  the  country.  She  and  her  husband  were  old  and  tried 
friends.  Tlicy  were  delighted  to  see  me,  and  invited  us  to 
dine  with  them  in  the  queen's  wonderful  palace.  The  large, 
lofty  reception  room  might  ornament  any  country  mansion. 
Two  rows  of  red  iron-wood  pillars  supported  the  roof.  A  deep 
fresco  of  ornamental  mat  work  hung  around,  and  down  to  the 
level  of  the  tops  of  the  doorways  that  led  into  other  apartments. 
These  doorways  were  curtained  off  by  soft  hanging  lace  work. 
The  whole  design  and  construction  was  native  work.  In  the 
centre  of  the  room  stood  a  large  table  covered  with  a  snow- 
white  cloth ;  the  dishes  and  other  appointments  were  all  of  the 
best.  Only,  seeing  native  etiquette  would  not  allow  the  queen's 
waiters  to  stand  when  serving  her,  these  menials  had  to  drop 
on  their  knees  with  dishes  of  roast  duck  and  other  delicacies 
in  their  hands,  and  approach  the  table  literally  walking  on 
their  knees.  The  queen  is  very  fat  as  all  African  queens  should 
be,  and  she  used  a  settee  as  a  chair  for  comfort.  However,  my 
wife  was  to  be  the  honoured  guest.  According  to  old  native 
ideas  she  would  have  been  invited  to  sit  on  the  queen's  mat ; 
and  now,  there  was  no  help  for  it,  she  had  to  sit  by  Queen 
Mokwte  on  her  settee. 

"  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lageard  and  Miss  Smith  were  occupying  the 
Nalolo  Mission  Houses.  They  gave  us  a  very  warm  welcome, 
and  every  possible  assistance.  The  Sunday  services  were  well 
attended,  the  queen  coming  to  church  in  a  large  roomy  canoe 
drawn  over  the  sand  by  four  oxen.  Nalolo  is  certainly  one  of 
the  most  trying  of  the  Barotse  stations.  The  white  and  the 
black  ants  seem  to  be  always  at  war,  the  one  driving  the  poor 
people  out  of  their  houses,  sometimes  at  dead  of  night,  and  the 
other  doing  their  utmost  to  pull  the  houses  down.  Snakes 
and  mosquitoes  and  dangerous  crocodiles  in  the  river  complete 
the  catalogue. 

"  Two  days'  paddling  brought  us  to  Lealui.  Here  one 
realises  that  the  Barotse  cannot  be  grouped  with  the  usual 
run  of  Bantu  tribes.  True  they  learned  much  from  their 
conquerors,  the  Basuto,  but  their  skill  at  canal  digging,  at 
heaping  up  artificial  mounds,  upon  which  to  build  their  towns, 
their  sacred  burial  groves  with  priests  in  charge,  where  regular 
forms  of  prayer  with  offerings  are  gone  through,  also  their 
ideas  of  pomp  and  pageantry,  are  quite  their  own.    The  royal 


318  THE   EIGHTH   JOURNEY 

barge,  or  Nalinquanda,  which  was  in  use  years  ago,  lay  a  wreck 
at  the  landing  place,  but  still  an  interesting  old  hulk.  One 
could  see  how  up  to  the  last  every  effort  had  been  made  to  keep 
the  raft-like  barge  together.  The  Royal  Chartered  Company 
took  the  occasion  of  the  Duke  of  Connaught's  visit  to  present 
Liwanika  with  a  barge  built  at  Putney  on  the  Thames.  Unfor- 
tunately the  soft  yellow  pine  planking  could  not  stand  the 
rough  hauling  by  hundreds  of  natives  over  the  rocks  and  rapids 
of  the  lower  river,  and  already  it  was  in  sad  need  of  repair. 
Liwanika  gave  us  a  hearty  welcome,  and  proved  as  good  as 
his  word,  for  he  supplied  us  with  fresh  canoes  and  canoe  men, 
enabling  us  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  Kabompo.  M.  A.  Jalla 
is  in  charge  of  M,  Coillard's  old  station  of  Lcalui.  It  was  inter- 
esting to  see  the  little  house  M.  Coillard  lived  in  before  the 
present  comfortable  Mission  House  was  built.  The  Station 
stands  on  the  mound  associated  in  my  mind  with  executions 
and  witch  burnings.  The  site  of  my  old  hut,  where  I  opened 
the  first  school  north  of  the  Zambesi,  and  where  I  suffered 
constantly  from  fever,  rats  and  vermin  of  all  sorts,  is  now 
occupied  by  a  house  built  to  entertain  visiting  princes. 
Liwanika's  houses  and  enclosures  stood  exactly  in  the  same 
positions  as  they  were  thirty  years  before,  and  the  relative 
positions  of  the  compounds  of  his  nobles  and  headmen  remain 
exactly  the  same.  Only  the  town  had  grown  considerably. 
Hardly  anyone  knew  me  but  the  king  himself  and  Sopi,  his 
Prime  Minister,  who  was  my  cook  boy  for  a  time  and  my  first 
African  scholar.  He  is  now  the  right  hand  man  both  of  the 
king  and  the  missionaries. 

"  The  rains  had  begun  to  pour  down  again  and  the  river  rose 
daily  so  that  we  wished  we  had  been  one  month  earlier  in  our 
undertaking.  However,  the  men  were  cheerful  and  we  full  of 
hope  and  joy  in  the  prospect  of  at  last  being  privileged  to 
approach  the  Kabompo  field.  Our  canoe  men  were  daily, 
however,  entertaining  us  with  stories  of  the  fierce  hippos  that 
made  the  navigation  of  that  river  impossible.  We  entered 
the  Kabompo,  however,  and  proceeded  for  some  distance. 
But  on  seeing  how  the  great  forest  trees  bent  over  the  deep 
water,  forcing  the  canoes  to  keep  to  the  centre  of  the  stream 
and  allowing  the  hippos  to  hide  under  the  branches  of  the 
trees,  one  realised  that  until  some  of  these  '  rogue  '  hippos 
were  killed  off,  the  river  certainly  would  not  be  safe.     So  we 


THE   EIGHTH  JOURNEY  319 

landed  and  began  building  on  what  appeared  to  be  a  very 
suitable  site  between  villages.  However,  one  very  heavy  night 
of  rain  turned  our  camping  ground  into  something  like  a  mound 
of  sinking  mud.  Down  our  cot-beds  sank  and  the  tent  poles 
and  the  boxes,  and  had  we  not  with  a  great  struggle,  and  in 
pitch  darkness,  made  a  great  effort  to  free  ourselves,  something 
would  have  disappeared.  Dark  and  wet  as  it  was,  my  wife 
and  I  had  to  turn  out  and  escape  to  an  adjoining  ant-heap. 
The  natives  gathered  round  in  the  morning  professing  to  be 
greatly  distressed.  When  I  asked  them  why  they  had  not 
told  us  the  day  before  that  the  ground  would  sink  whenever 
the  heavy  rain  came,  they  naively  replied  that  '  they  thought 
we  knew  ' 

"  At  last,  close  by  another  village,  I  managed  to  build  a 
fairly  comfortable  camp,  bushing  it  around  with  thorns,  and 
soon  we  were  engaging  fresh  men  to  take  us  up  the  Kabompo 
as  far  as  Sekufelu's  capital.  Again  the  rains  seemed  to  threaten 
our  progress,  but  we  did  not  turn  back.  As  we  proceeded 
the  number  of  Lunda  villages  on  the  north  bank  quite  surprised 
us.  Indeed,  we  estimated  that  we  passed  through  a  group  of 
villages  every  twenty  minutes,  representing  in  each  group  a 
population  of  500  people.  How  the  natives  can  manage  to 
endure  the  mosquitoes  is  a  problem.  The  air  was  simply  alive 
with  them  night  and  day.  As  we  travelled  eastward  the 
country  became  more  hilly  and  the  timber  heavier.  These 
are  the  forests  that  have  supplied  the  Barotse  with  canoes, 
probably  for  centuries.  We  saw  a  group  of  canoe  carpenters 
camped  around  a  mahogany  log  that  they  had  just  felled.  The 
first  season's  work  is  to  trim  the  outside  roughly  and  hollow 
it  out  while  soft  and  green,  leaving  the  sides  of  the  canoe 
about  six  inches  thick,  covering  it  over  with  leaves,  branches 
and  grass.  They  have  to  season  it  for  a  year,  then  returning 
with  supplies  of  meal  and  snuff  they  camp  out  for  weeks  together. 
The  canoe  gradually  begins  to  take  shape,  and  so  soon  as  it  is 
light  enough  the  owner's  wife  brews  as  much  beer  as  she  can 
find  pots  for;  invitations  are  sent  to  all  the  neighbouring  villages, 
and  with  the  help  of  beer,  songs,  talk  and  laughter  the  canoe 
is  dragged  over  the  mile  or  more  that  lies  between  its  stump 
in  the  forest  and  the  river.  But  it  is  far  from  being  of  use  yet ; 
but  canoes  are  generally  sold  by  the  Lunda  forest  men  in  this 
state  to  Bambowe  experts.    We  allow  it  another  year  soaking 


320  THE   EIGHTH   JOURNEY 

in  the  river  before  it  is  pulled  up  under  the  shade  of  a  great 
tree  and  finished  off,  the  sides  varying  in  thickness  from  half 
an  inch  to  an  inch  lower  down.  They  tell  me  the  big  trees 
have  been  all  cut  down  within  hauling  distance  of  the  rivers. 
Some  of  the  largest  canoes  now  afloat  were  made  during  the 
reign  of  the  chief  Sepopo.  And  seeing  that  he  died  forty  years 
ago  these  canoes  must  have  been  in  use  for  a  very  long  time. 
When  Mission  Stations  are  planted  in  these  parts  we  will  have 
to  build  long  canoe-iike  barges  for  the  transport  of  supplies. 
And  I  took  care  to  cut  down  a  few  fine  specimens  of  mazuri 
so  that  the  wood  might  season  for  a  j^ear  or  two.  The  natives 
will  never  touch  these  fallen  trees.  Passing  through  a  large 
Lunda  village  I  saw  a  tall  pole  planted  in  the  centre ;  a  pot  of 
medicine  was  tied  to  the  top  of  it  and  bark  cords  hung  in 
graceful  curves  between  the  top  of  the  pole  and  the  tops  of  the 
huts  around,  like  the  ribbons  of  a  May-pole.  This  pole  I  was 
told  was  a  lightning  conductor,  and  the  cords  secured  the  safety 
of  each  hut  to  which  they  were  attached. 

"  Leaving  the  Lunda  villages,  and  their  naked  inhabitants, 
we  visited  many  Bankoio  and  Bambundu  villages.  The 
inhabitants  had  a  slightly  superior  air,  they  drank  more  beer 
and  were  better  clothed.  The  garment  of  one  woman,  I  must 
confess,  rather  puzzled  us.  It  turned  out  to  be  the  stomach 
of  an  elephant  softened  by  rubbing.  I  had  met  many  of  the 
Bankoio  in  Barotseland  and  had  passed  through  their  country 
the  year  before.  They  are  one  of  the  23  large  tribes  I  was  able 
to  count  up  living  around  these  parts  who  have  no  word  of 
Scripture  translated  into  their  tongues. 

"  After  travelling  for  fifty  miles  along  the  Kabompo,  we 
arrived  at  the  junction  of  the  Ndongwe,  and  here  we  found 
ourselves  on  a  high  bluff  looking  over  a  vast  expanse  of  country 
with  the  town  and  villages  of  people  lying  around  and  large 
fields  of  ripening  millet  corn  extended  on  all  sides.  Sekufelu 
is  the  chief  of  this  country.  He  is  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  Liwanika. 
He  belongs,  he  insists,  to  the  original  Barotse  stock  who  at 
one  time  of  the  Makololo  (Basuto)  invasion  refused  to  be 
conquered  and  fled  north.  In  fact,  while  we  were  visiting  his 
town  he  had  succeeded  so  well  in  raising  a  scare  of  threatened 
trouble  that  the  Chartered  Company  sent,  at  Liwanika's  request, 
a  force  of  Rhodcsian  police  and  a  Maxim  gun,  to  protect  him. 
Our  carriers  became  quite  excited  with  all  the  talk  of  Sekufelu's 


THE   EIGHTH  JOURNEY  321 

people  that  they  too  began  to  be  troublesome.  They  wanted 
their  pay,  beer  for  rations,  and  when  the  day  came  to  return 
they  refused  to  strike  camp.  However,  better  counsels  pre- 
vailed. We  put  in  a  good  day's  march  and  were  soon  out  of 
touch  with  Sekufelu's  boastful  young  rebels.  Seldom,  however, 
have  I  seen  such  a  tempting  field  for  mission  work.  Sekufelu's 
people  were  so  interesting  and  industrious.  They  brought  us 
abundant  supplies  of  every  article  of  food  -  stuff  grown  in 
Central  Africa,  along  with  a  basket  or  two  of  Irish  potatoes, 
and  a  good  sample  of  wheat.  The  chief  had  brought  the  seed 
of  potatoes  and  wheat  back  with  him  from  one  of  his  journeys 
south.  Then  pottery,  baskets,  mats,  canoes,  fish  traps  were  all 
being  manufactured  in  the  town  the  day  we  paid  our  formal 
visit,  when  all  the  petty  chiefs  assembled  to  hear  our  message. 

"  Returning  to  our  depot  camp  by  the  Zambesi  was  a  real 
home-coming.  Now  our  way  seemed  more  clear.  We  would 
build  a  three-roomed  house  on  a  spot  of  land  that  divides  the 
Kabompo  from  the  Zambesi,  spend  the  remainder  of  our  time 
evangelising  among  the  Bambowe,  and  make  a  short  explora- 
tory trip  by  canoes  up  the  Lungebungu. 

"  When  I  called  for  men  to  cut  poles  and  make  bricks  about 
500  responded,  out  of  which  we  employed  thirteen  at  5s.  per 
month.  We  soon  had  four  men  sawing  out  planks  with  a  pit 
saw,  others  making  bricks  and  fetching  hard  wood  poles  and 
rafters,  and  the  cottage  was  a  great  success.  Also  a  kitchen 
garden  dug  over  and  fenced,  and  a  fruit  tree  garden  cleared 
and  fenced  around  in  the  bush  by  us,  gave  our  surroundings 
an  air  of  respectability,  not  to  speak  of  the  street  of  native 
huts  and  shelters  springing  up  at  a  safe  distance  behind  our 
house.  The  Bambowe  responded  delightfully  to  our  visits, 
and  several  young  men  gave  much  promise.  All  these  activi- 
ties, however,  were  brought  to  a  close  by  a  sudden  illness 
overtaking  me.  My  wife  had  now  to  take  charge,  and  within  a 
week  she  had  me  gliding  down  the  Zambesi  in  one  of  the  canoes 
we  had  brought  up  for  the  Lungebungu  expedition.  Fortunately 
we  met  Dr.  Renter  in  the  Barotse  Valley.  He  ordered  me 
south  at  once." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE    LAST    JOURNEY    AND    THE    HOME    CALL 

AFTER  resting  for  some  months  in  Johannesburg  Arnot 
made  a  second  attempt  in  1912  to  take  up  the  work 
in  the  Kabompo  Valley,  but  was  turned  back  again 
by  another  breakdo^\-n  in  health.  He  had  already  forwarded 
his  baggage  to  Li\dngstone,  and  arranged  ■v\ith  his  paddlers 
from  the  Kabompo  to  meet  him  there  at  a  certain  date. 
Then  he  went  to  Kimberley  for  a  week-end,  intending  to  join 
the  Zambesi  express  at  that  place.  The  day  before  he  should 
have  left  he  was  taken  seriously  ill.  After  a  fortnight  in 
hospital  he  sadly  retraced  his  steps  to  Johannesburg. 

Loath  to  relinquish  the  work  to  which  he  had  devoted  his 
life  Arnot  decided  to  visit  the  homeland  to  consult  ^vith 
specialists,  although  the  local  doctors  were  against  the  proposal. 
He  left  for  England  in  January,  1913,  and  returned  at  the  end 
of  the  year,  ha\4ng  undergone  a  three  months'  course  of  open- 
air  treatment.  Three  doctors  were  consulted  and  neither  saw 
any  reason  why  he  should  not  return  to  his  field  of  labour 
provided  he  lived  carefully. 

Returning  to  Johannesburg  he  met  there  Mr.  Suckling  from 
Kalene  Hill  and  Mr.  T.  L.  Rogers  from  home.  These  brethren 
expressed  their  willingness  to  accompany  him  to  the  Kabompo. 
As  he  was  then  feeling  strong  and  well  it  seemed  to  Arnot  that 
the  call  to  proceed  north  was  clear. 

Leaving  the  Golden  City  on  November  21st,  the  three  mission- 
aries journeyed  to  Shesheke  on  the  Zambesi,  where  six  canoes, 
in  charge  of  twenty-five  paddlers,  were  waiting  for  them. 

To  his  son  Robert,  Arnot  \\Tote  from  the  Zambesi  on 
December  2nd  :  "  When  we  left  Livangstone  to  go  to  the  river, 
where  we  met  the  canoes,  I  shot  a  partridge.  But  there  are 
plenty  of  them.  Then  the  waggon  was  too  heavy,  and  stuck 
in  the  mud  again  and  again,  so  we  had  enough  to  do.  Then 
we  came  on  here,  and  I  am  sitting  looking  at  the  Zambesi. 

322 


THE   LAST   JOURNEY  323 

Yesterday  a  big  crocodile  came  and  lay  out  on  a  rock,  greatly 
to  Mr.  Rogers'  amusement.  Then  he  opened  his  mouth  as  wide 
as  he  could  and  kept  it  open  while  a  bird  walked  in  and  picked 
his  teeth.  Rogers  wanted  to  shoot  the  croc,  but  there  was  a 
village  on  the  other  side,  and  we  were  afraid  of  killing  someone. 
The  man  told  me  that  this  croc,  had  already  eaten  his  ox  and 
his  dog." 

To  his  son  Arthur,  Arnot  wrote  on  December  8rd  :  "  I  am 
surprised  at  the  number  of  new  villages  up  here  and  the  number 
of  children.  Africa  certainly  wants  not  so  much  more  mission- 
aries as  more  active  missionaries.  The  people  never  see  or 
hear  a  missionary  except  when  he  passes  them  on  journeys. 
Then  I  met  an  old  friend  from  the  Mobabe  who  tells  me  that 
the  Bushmen  are  very  numerous,  and  the  Basubia  on  the 
Mobabe.  I  wish  I  was  a  boy  like  you  again.  I  would  roll  up 
my  sleeves  and  begin  again,  and  learn  my  lessons  better  than 
ever  I  did,  and  work  for  a  bursary,  and  then  set  out  like  John 
the  Baptist  into  the  wilderness  and  eat  locusts  and  wild  honey 
and  preach  to  the  Bushmen.  How  happy  one  would  be  in 
heaven  with  a  thousand  Bushmen  round  you.  Just  such 
another  sight  could  not  be  seen  anywhere  in  heaven  for  no 
missionary  has  really  been  the  Bushman's  missionary. 

"  On  December  14th  we  left  Shesheke  and  slept  by  some 
cattle  kraals.  In  the  evening  a  sweeping  storm  came  up, 
driving  us  into  our  tents,  but  my  dome  tent  stood  well.  The 
next  day  we  camped  early  at  Katonga,  to  await  two  men  I  had 
left  behind  to  bring  on  the  mail.  Having  a  few  hours  to  spare, 
Rogers  and  I  took  our  seine  net  to  a  sand-bank.  We  duly  cast 
it,  apparently  catching  nothing,  but  when  one  of  the  men 
stepped  into  the  water  to  throw  the  bag  of  the  net  on  the  shore, 
he  sprang  back  in  terror,  for  a  crocodile  was  lying  quietly  in 
the  sack,  and  immediately  showed  its  teeth  and  dashed  about. 
Rogers  shot  it  mth  his  rifle.  Then  there  was  a  roar  of  laughter 
and  hand-clapping  among  the  natives.  The  crocodile  was 
quite  young,  only  measuring  nine  feet.  The  net  was  none  the 
worse,  and  we  afterwards  had  a  good  catch  of  fish.  The  next 
day  brought  us  to  the  foot  of  the  first  rapids.  Here,  on  the 
German  bank,  we  found  two  men  in  partnership,  building 
boats  and  barges,  and  selling  them  to  the  British  traders  for 
fifty  or  sixty  pounds  each.  They  seem  to  be  just  what  we  want. 
We  camped  in  the  forest  near,  where  I  shot  a  little  antelope 


324  THE   LAST   JOURNEY 

behind  the  camp.  Suckling  shot  one,  too,  and  Rogers  shot  a 
guinea-fowl ;  so  we  were  quite  set  up  with  game  meat.  That 
night  we  slept  at  Ngambe,  where  we  had  to  pull  the  canoes 
overland  a  short  way.  Next  day  we  passed  dozens  of  our  old 
friends  the  hippos. 

"  The  20th  of  December  we  shall  long  remember.  Landing  on 
an  island  we  put  up  our  tents  and  seemed  to  be  very  comfort- 
able when  a  peculiar  colour  began  to  appear  in  the  sky,  volumes 
of  white  clouds  forming.  Behind  these  in  a  half-circle  was  a 
very  dark,  leaden  cloud  ;  then  banks  of  light  ash-coloured 
clouds  formed  up,  and  behind  them  all  was  pitch  black,  while 
a  red  copper  glow  filled  the  air.  In  spite  of  the  dead  calm  we 
all  rushed  to  the  tent  ropes,  and  piled  up  stones  around  the 
pegs.  I  shouted  to  a  trader  pitched  200  yards  below  us,  but 
all  too  late  ;  his  strong,  heavy  tent  suddenly  filled  out  like  a 
balloon  and  rose  skyward,  an  extraordinary  sight  !  Then 
Rogers'  tent  tipped  over  end-ways,  snapping  the  iron  pegs  of 
the  tops  of  the  poles.  Fortunately  my  tent  held,  with  the  help 
of  six  men.  We  put  all  our  goods  into  it  pell-mell,  and  so  for 
about  an  hour  we  were  in  one  of  the  biggest  storms  I  ever 
experienced.  The  lightning  flashed  every  second  and  seemed 
to  run  like  liquid  fire  round  the  iron-stone  rock  which  composed 
the  island. 

"  The  next  day  being  Sunday,  we  had  intended  remain- 
ing, but  with  one  consent  we  moved  on.  How  we  longed 
for  the  shelter  of  trees  !  But  when  after  an  hour  or  two 
we  camped  by  the  Kalle  Rapids,  we  saw  that  the  forests 
had  their  dangers,  for  huge  branches  lay  strewn  over  the 
ground.  I  had  a  nice  afternoon  with  my  boys,  giving  them  a 
lesson  to  repeat.  We  had  great  Bible  and  book  talks,  and  made 
great  plans  for  the  future." 

At  Lealui  Arnot  had  a  bad  attack  of  fever  for  two  days  and 
was  very  low  in  spirits  as  he  thought  his  old  trouble  was  on 
him  again,  but  this  passed  and  he  felt  quite  himself  again. 

The  narrative  proceeds  : 

'''Jan.  Qth,  1914. — After  being  again  held  up  by  the  rain, 
and  spending  an  hour  at  a  trader's  little  store,  we  were  rather 
late  in  overtaking  Suckling's  boat.  To-day,  just  at  dusk,  our 
men  called  out  that  a  flock  of  ducks  were  on  a  sandbank  close 
by.  Rogers  lifted  his  shot  gun  and  fired  among  them,  dropping 
the  weapon,  muzzle  down  on  to  his  left  foot,  whiled  he  craned 


AND   THE   HOME   CALL  325 

his  neck  to  see  the  results  of  his  shot.  I  was  standing  close  to 
him.  Eight  men  stood  all  around  the  bow  of  barge  when  the 
second  barrel  of  his  gun  went  off.  It  was  loaded  with  buck 
shot.  A  thrill  passed  up  my  leg.  A  big  hole  was  made  on  the 
top  of  Rogers'  boot,  and  again  an  exit  hole  to  the  left.  The 
shot  had  refused  to  penetrate  the  thick  sole  of  his  boot.  In 
the  shortest  possible  time  we  had  the  boot  and  sock  off  and  a 
bucket  of  disinfectant  prepared  and  the  wound  washed,  but 
it  was  too  dark  to  see  anything.  Suckling  was  canoed  across 
the  river.  As  soon  as  possible  we  had  Rogers  up  to  my  tent, 
all  dressing  and  instruments  available  laid  out.  Rogers  had 
all  these  handily  by  him  in  a  bag,  and  with  the  best  camp  light 
I  dressed  the  foot,  finding,  strange  to  say,  that  most  of  the 
charge  had  passed  between  the  two  small  toes  of  the  foot.  The 
top  of  the  little  toe  was  hanging  by  a  thread.  The  bone  of  the 
next  toe  was  splintered.  But  there  seemed  to  be  a  break 
across  the  toe.  After  an  injection  of  morphia,  I  removed  the 
splintered  bone,  cleaned  and  put  back  the  hanging  little  toe. 
We  all  went  to  bed.    Rogers  was  very  plucky. 

"  Jan  7th. — This  morning,  with  better  light,  we  undid  the 
toe,  managed  to  get  the  wound  cleaner,  and  set  the  little  toe 
more  correctly.  Began  our  journey  at  10.15.  Camped  by 
Mamboure  Village. 

"  Ja7i.  8th. — Rogers  had  fair  night ;  temperature  normal. 
The  little  toe  has  stuck  on ;  wounds  quite  sweet. 

"  On  January  11th  we  reached  Njonjolo's,  on  the  Kabompo 
River,  our  very  trying  journey  over,  and  our  goods  all  being 
there.  The  Httle  house  that  I  built  two  years  and  a  half  ago 
seemed  to  be  exactly  as  we  left  it ;  nothing  had  given  way, 
and  only  a  few  drops  came  through  the  roof  after  a  heavy  rain 
the  first  night,  but  the  bush  had  all  grown  thick  again.  The 
people  were  very  glad  to  see  us. 

"  On  the  12th  Mr.  Suckling  left  to  seek  a  suitable  site  for  a 
station  among  the  Balunda.  I  began  the  day  by  clearing  the 
yard,  then  took  Officy,  one  of  the  boys,  to  the  lake  and  taught 
him  how  to  wash  the  clothes.  This  was  followed  by  two  hours' 
gardening,  and  I  then  came  back  to  lunch,  which  consisted 
of  fresh  fish  from  our  traps  and  thick  milk.  I  had  Kaffir  corn 
ground,  and  made  a  loaf  of  bread,  half  of  flour  and  half  of 
sifted  mealie  meal ;    the  result  was  excellent. 

*'  The   same  day  I  began   school  with  seven  little  boys, 


326  THE   LAST   JOURNEY 

and  by  the  17th  it  had  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds.  The 
people  did  listen.  I  was  tied  up  with  little  duties  from  morning 
till  night — baking,  cooking,  buying,  talking,  gardening,  farm- 
ing, house  repairing,  storekeeping  and  butter  making — yet 
I  felt  the  place  a  perfect  haven  of  rest,  the  house  being  cool 
and  pleasant,  Math  no  white  ants  or  rats  about. 

"  However,  '  Man  proposes  but  God  disposes.'  On  the  25th 
I  was  smitten  down  as  by  a  sword  thrust.  My  spleen,  which 
had  given  me  much  trouble  in  years  gone  by,  and  was  sur- 
charged with  the  refuse  of  many  fevers,  suddenly  ruptured 
and  filled  my  abdominal  cavity  with  blood,  although  this  was 
not  discovered  until  I  had  arrived  in  Johannesburg  six  weeks 
later.  How  I  recovered  from  the  first  shock  and  endured  the 
long  journey  cannot  be  explained  or  told  here.  It  was  to  me 
a  thousand  miles  of  miracle  in  miniature. 

"  Messrs.  Suckling  and  Rogers  had  no  hesitation  in  deciding 
to  remain  on.  May  the  Lord's  richest  blessing  rest  upon  them 
and  on  all  the  heroic  band  of  missionaries  throughout  Central 
Africa  who  have  put  their  hands  to  the  plough  and  have  not 
dra\ATi  back." 

Miss  Ray  Arnot,  Arnot's  eldest  daughter,  wrote  the 
following  account  of  her  father's  return  from  his  last  journey  : 

"  Father  was  taken  ill  on  January  24th.  The  Commissioner, 
Mr.  Thwaites,  w^ho  had  come  up  to  the  station  in  his  barge  ^^4th 
the  mail,  had  only  been  in  the  house  five  minutes  before  father 
complained  of  great  pain.  They  put  him  to  bed  and  the  next 
day  hurried  him  off  to  the  doctor  at  Mongu.  All  the  Commis- 
sioner's things  were  bmidled  out  of  the  barge,  and  Messrs. 
Thwaites  and  Rogers  took  father  a  five  days'  journey  in  two 
days,  through  terrible  storms  of  thunder  and  rain,  travelling 
night  and  day.  When  Mr.  Suckling,  who  had  camped  twenty 
miles  further  on,  heard  of  father's  illness,  he  walked  that 
distance  in  one  night  through  a  country  infested  mth  wild 
animals.  He  arrived  just  in  time  to  see  them  off  and  to  fling 
into  the  barge  his  good  eiderdown  quilt,  which  proved  a  great 
comfort.  The  doctor  was  kindness  itself  to  father,  and  nursed 
him  night  and  day.  After  a  fortnight  at  Mongu,  father  picked 
up  wonderfully,  and  was  well  enough  to  travel  south.  Dr. 
Dickson  came  with  him  part  of  the  way  and  then  gave  him  his 
own  boy  (trained  as  a  cook  as  well  as  a  nurse)  to  go  with  him 
the  rest  of  the  journey.    The  EUenbergers,  French  missionaries 


AND   THE   HOME   CALL  327 

from  the  Barotse  Valley,  happened  to  be  going  on  furlough, 
so  this  fitted  in  very  nicely,  and  they  joined  parties  at  Lealui. 
The  three  weeks'  journey  from  Lealui  to  Kazungula  down  the 
Zambesi  was  one  '  series  of  miracles,'  to  quote  father's  words. 
It  would  rain  all  night  and  clear  up  just  in  time  for  their  start 
off  in  the  morning  ;  of  course,  they  could  not  travel  when  it 
was  raining.  At  night,  when  the  pain  was  very  bad,  God 
drew  near  to  His  suffering  servant  and  filled  his  soul  with 
peace  and  with  perfect  resignation  to  His  will.  At  times  His 
presence  so  filled  the  tent  that  the  whole  place  seemed  lit  with 
His  glory.  They  stopped  at  Sheshcke  for  a  day  or  two,  and 
messengers  were  sent  from  there  overland  to  Livingstone  to 
ask  for  a  waggon  to  be  sent  to  meet  the  party.  Unhappily 
none  of  these  messengers  could  get  through,  as  the  roads  were 
made  impassable  by  heavy  floods.  Before  reaching  Shesheke 
one  interesting  little  incident  took  place.  They  were  in  need 
of  meat  one  time,  so  the  canoes  were  stopped  while  M.  EUen- 
berger  took  aim  at  two  or  three  guinea-fowl  that  were  on  the 
bank  and  shot  one.  Before  they  could  land,  however,  to  their 
astonishment  they  saw  a  lion  suddenly  seize  the  shot  guinea- 
fowl  and  make  off  with  it.  The  lion  had  been  lying,  unperceived 
by  the  party,  behind  a  bush  near,  eating  a  baboon.  The  other 
guinea-fowl  had  seen  the  Hon,  and  did  not  move  when  the  gun 
went  off,  but  waited  to  see  what  the  lion  would  do.  The  lion 
evidently  preferred  the  flesh  of  the  guinea-fowl  to  that  of  the 
baboon. 

"  They  did  not  know  how  long  they  would  have  to  wait  at 
Kazungula  for  the  waggon — perhaps  a  week,  perhaps  a  fortnight 
— as  no  message  had  got  through.  What  was  their  surprise, 
therefore,  to  hear  the  crack  of  a  whip  in  the  distance  half  an 
hour  after  they  disembarked  !  M.  Jalla  had  heard  a  rumour 
of  a  party  coming  down  the  river,  so  sent  the  waggon  on  spec. 
Father  was  carried  overland  in  a  hammock,  while  the  other 
missionaries  and  the  goods  went  in  the  waggon.  One  day  the 
waggon  driver  said  he  wanted  to  push  on  for  two  hours  longer 
that  evening  before  camping  for  the  night,  as  he  was  afraid 
a  river,  now  low,  would  fill  in  a  few  hours.  They  looked  towards 
its  source  and  saw  heavy  black  clouds  in  that  direction.  They 
pushed  on,  hoping  for  the  best ;  what  was  their  relief  to  find 
the  river  quite  low  !  They  had  hardly  crossed  when  they  heard 
a  roar  behind  them,  and  down  came  the  water,  carrying  all 


328  THE   LAST   JOURNEY 

before  it  and  flooding  both  banks  of  the  river.  If  they  had 
been  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  flood,  it  would  have  kept  them  a 
week  or  ten  daj'^s  at  the  least.  When  they  arrived  at  Living- 
stone, father  looked  up  the  first  train  for  Johannesburg.  Some 
wanted  him  to  wait  for  the  quick  train,  which  left  a  day  later 
but  arrived  before  the  slow  one.  But  father  would  take  the 
slow,  stopping  train,  which  in  the  end  proved  the  quickest, 
as  the  other  was  delayed  seventeen  hours  by  a  wash-away. 
Dr.  Berry  ordered  him  off  to  the  Nursing  Home  the  day  after 
he  arrived,  astonished  that  he  was  still  alive,  and  that  the  blood 
from  the  ruptured  spleen  had  not  turned  septic." 

Several  weeks  of  suffering  faced  the  tired  missionary  on  his 
return  to  Johannesburg.  But  time  and  energy  were  found  for 
the  revision  of  the  proofs  of  one  more  book.  Arnot  had  been 
repeatedly  urged  to  republish  Garenganze,  but  as  he  felt  that 
much  of  its  contents  were  out  of  date  he  decided  to  rewrite  the 
story  of  his  pioneering  journeys.  This  he  did  during  1913. 
In  the  preface  to  this  his  last  work,  Missionary  Travels  in 
Central  Africa,  Arnot  said  he  would  not  attempt  "  to  give  a 
history  of  the  missionary  work  that  had  been  carried  on  so 
successfully  by  the  brethren  and  sisters  whose  names  appear  in 
our  Appendix."  This  list  contained  the  names  of  sixty-one 
missionaries,  labouring  on  sixteen  stations  scattered  over  five 
mission  fields.    These  fields  are  described  by  Arnot  as  follows  : 

"  1.  The  Bihe  plateaus  are  homes  now  of  native  churches 
that  go  a  long  way  to  support  their  own  out-stations,  schools 
and  evangelists. 

"2.  The  Chokwe  is  still  a  field  full  of  peril  and  privation. 

"  3.  Again,  further  east,  in  the  Lovale-Lunda  countries 
with  their  fine  stations,  '  light  has  sprung  up  '  to  many,  and  of 
Kavungu  the  missionaries  write  of  a  '  continued  stream  of 
blessing.' 

"  4.  The  old  Garenganze  field,  now  called  Katanga,  has 
passed  through  most  unusual  vicissitudes,  the  history  of  which 
would  require  a  book  to  itself,  but  much  that  appeared  to  have 
been  lost  has  been  gathered  up  within  the  last  ten  years.  Msidi's 
old  capital  at  Bankeya  has  been  rebuilt ;  Muenda,  the  chief, 
is  a  most  generous  helper,  and  the  Belgian  Government  has 
loyally  kept  the  field  open  for  our  brethren,  only  reinforce- 
ments at  the  four  stations  now  occupied  are  sadly  wanted. 

"5.  The  Vemba  mission  field  is  in  British  territory,  and 


AND   THE   HOME   CALL  329 

is  traversed  in  all  directions  by  the  paths  that  Livingstone 
trod  during  the  years  of  his  '  Last  Journey.'  " 

The  sixty-one  missionaries  referred  to  above  were  all  living 
when  the  list  was  compiled,  and  did  not  include  those  who  had 
also  dedicated  their  lives  to  the  same  fields,  but  had  "  fallen 
on  sleep  "  at  their  posts.  What  a  cheering  %'ision  this  number 
of  workers  must  have  been  for  the  missionary  to  contemplate 
in  his  last  days.  Thirty-two  years  earlier  the  whole  of  the 
vast  fields,  now  occupied  at  strategic  points  by  these,  was  a 
blank,  and  heathen  darkness  reigned  supreme  from  end  to  end. 
But  Arnot  never  boasted.  A  few  days  before  he  passed  away 
he  said  to  a  friend  that  the  words  of  the  Apostle  Paul :  "  I 
have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,"  were 
words  he  could  not  use.  But  just  as  a  drummer  boy  could  say 
he  had  fought  in  a  great  battle  so  he  felt  he  could  take  these 
words  of  Paul's  and  adapt  them  to  himself  and  say,  "  I  have 
fought  in  the  good  fight." 

As  Arnot  became  worse  it  was  decided  that  nothing  but  a 
serious  operation  could  relieve  him.  This  was  performed, 
and  all  appeared  to  be  going  well  till  May  14th,  when,  his  mfe 
wrote  :  "  He  had  a  sudden  attack  of  the  heart  and  terrible 
pain.  Though  he  became  easier  he  steadily  sank.  When  I  told 
him  the  doctor  said  he  was  sinking,  he  seemed  quite  peaceful 
and  happy,  and  told  me  to  cable  home,  '  Fred  at  rest.'  Then 
he  said,  '  Have  the  funeral  as  simple  as  possible,'  and  named 
those  whom  he  wished  to  be  invited.  As  his  breath  became 
slower,  I  quoted  to  him,  '  When  thou  passest  through  the 
waters,  I  will  be  ^vith  thee.'  He  tried  to  say  something,  and 
nodded  his  head  brightly.  After  that  he  went  away  so  quietly ; 
it  was  like  a  little  child  falling  asleep." 

On  May  15th,  1914,  Arnot  entered  into  rest,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-five.  His  body  was  buried  in  the  Brixton  Cemetery, 
Johannesburg.  A  large  number  of  people  were  present.  Mr. 
Laurie  Hamilton,  one  of  the  leaders  of  "  The  Brethren,"  con- 
ducted the  service.  The  Rev.  Canon  Berry,  of  the  Church 
of  England,  read  the  committal  sentences,  and  addresses  were 
given  by  the  author  of  this  book  and  by  Mr.  Hamilton. 

A  memorial  service,  largely  attended,  was  held  a  few  days 
later  in  the  Johannesburg  Baptist  Church,  when  representa- 
tives of  various  evangelical  churches  paid  tributes  to  Arnot's 
memory. 


330  THE   LAST   JOURNEY 

Arnot  left  a  wife  and  seven  children  to  mourn  their  loss, 
but  also  to  rejoice  in  a  fragrant  and  precious  memory.  Of  these 
Ray,  the  eldest  daughter,  heard  the  call  to  the  Mission  Field, 
and  proceeded  to  Bunkeya,  her  father's  old  station,  in  1916, 
but  malarial  fever  forced  her  back  again.  Nigel,  Cyril  and 
Alec,  the  three  eldest  sons,  volunteered  for  service  in  the  Great 
War.  Nigel  fought  under  General  Botha  in  the  campaign  in 
German  South-West  Africa,  and  came  through  unscathed. 
A  serious  motor  cycle  accident,  which  befell  him  in  Johannes- 
burg afterwards,  hindered  his  acceptance  for  Flanders,  but  at 
the  time  of  writing,  he  was  engaged  in  "  munition  work  "  in 
Britain.  Cyril  enlisted  in  the  3rd  South  African  Brigade,  and 
fell  in  the  fight  for  the  Menin  Road  on  September  24th,  1917. 
Alec  was  in  one  of  the  flying  corps. 


^'n^;?,^rTy 


ofQ 


^i^NM 


Seeley,  Service  &  Co.,  Ltd. 


Seela]r,S«rfice&Co., 


INDEX 


African  Lakes  Corporation,  257 
African,    The,    mistaken    methods 

with,  91 
Antwerp,  Visit  to,  271 
Arab  traders,  18-4,  209,  261 
Army  ants,  172 
Arnot,  W.,  father,  17 
Arnot,  W.,  grandfather,  17 
Arnot,  Mrs.,  239 
Arnot,  Rev.  W.,  17 
Assassination,  Attempted,  204 

B 

Baboons  and  monkeys,  305 

Bachokwe  mother.  A,  112 

"  Back  of  the  Barns,"  18 

Bagster,  Mr.  W.  W.,  120 

Bailundu,  Bad  news  from,  114 

Bakuti,  The,  107 

Balovale,  The,  166 

Baluchaze,  Trouble  with  the,  109 

Balunda  chiefs.  Three,  171 

Bambimdu,  The,  106 

Bankoio   and   Bambimdu   villages, 

320 
Baptism,  Arnot's,  18 
Baptism  of  Dick,  207 
Barotse,  men,  women  and  children, 

84-86,  90,  94,  317 
Barotse  Valley,  The,  316 
Beer,  Native,  202 
Begging  chiefs,  Annoyance  of,  144 
Benguella,  130 

Benguella,  The  Governor  of,  120 
Bihe,  104,  114,  187,  248 
Blacksmith,  A  king's,  98 
Blantyre,  258 
Boots,  Heaven-sent,  194 
Bottle,  A  mysterious,  156 
Bouchet,  M.,  311 
British  Guiana,  Visit  to,  268 
Bryden,  H.,  82 
Buffalo,  Treed  by  a,  80 
Bull  hippopotamus,  259 


"  Bimch  of  Needles,"  The,  98 
Bushmen,  27 


Caconda,  Outbreak  at,  135 

Cameron  in  the  interior,  113 

Cannibalism,  307 

Canoe  building,  319 

Canoes,  315 

Cape,  Arrival  at  the,  20 

Carriers,    Troubles    with,    49,    145, 

153,  157,  169,  174,  240 
Caves  of  refuge,  204 
Chalmers,  Capt.,  260 
Charms,  127,  212 
Chief,  An  importunate,  161 
Chiefs,  Status  of,  96 
Chief tainess,  A  warlike,  231 
Chikulu,  115,  124 
Chikuya,  242 
Children,  Barotse,  85 
Chindunduma,  King,  242 
Chinze,  192 

Chipongi,  Chief  of  Bihe,  137 
City  of  Refuge,  A,  95 
Cobbe,  Benj.,  255 
Coillard,  M.,  88 
Coimbra,  120 
Continent  of  Europe,  Visit  to  the, 

271 
Conceiro,  Capt.,  244 
Cronje,  25 

Cruel  punishments,  95 
Cust,  R.  N.,  233 

D 

De  Winton,  Sir  F.,  233 

Death,  Customs  at,  126 

Death,  Sentence  of,  83 

Delagoa  Bay,  21 

Dick,  198,  281,  315 

Divining,  123 

Disaster,  Traces  of  a  great,  39 

Doctors,   Warning  against  native, 

190 
Donkeys,  Lost,  47 


331 


332 


INDEX 


E 

Early  carrier  troubles,  45 

Early  life,  18 

Ekwikwi,  239 

Etiquette,  Breaches  of,  125 

"  Exclusive  "  evangelist.  An,  256 

Exeter  Hall,  236 


Falling  bank.  Escape  from  a,  80 
False   charge,   A,    and   its   punish- 
ment, 116 
Faulknor,  Mr.,  228 
Fetish  worship,  269 
Fish  dam.  A,  166 
Fisher,  Dr.,  241 
Fisher,  Miss  H.  J.,  236 
Flying  serpent,  A,  282 
Food  scarcity,  62 
Forward,  H.M.S.,  132 
Free  State,  The,  24 
Furlonger,  Lieut.,  132 
Future  life,  Native  ideas  of,  92 

G 

Gall,  Mr.,  241 

Game  on  the  Lufira  R.,  186 
Game  himting  in  a  hammock,  198 
Garenganze,  Arnot's  first  book,  235 
Garenganze,  An  invitation  to,  119, 

131,  159 
Gonye  Falls,  315 
Grandparents,  Arnot's,  17 
Gratitude,  160 
Grateful  blacksmith.  A,  220 
Greyhound,  The  lost,  78 
Groves,  E.  K.,  237 
Gruesome  warning.  A,  223 
Gumbela,  81 
Gim  accidents,  105,  169,  325 

H 

Heat,  intense,  87 

Hepbm-n,  28 

Hippopotamus,  Attacked  by  a,  77 

Hoeing,  181 

Horace  Scow,  The,  129 

House,  Building  a,  187,  321 

Human  sacrifices,  93 

Hyenas,  A  raid  by,  205 


Ilala,  119 

Illness,  190 

Infants,  The  fate  of,  216 


Infanticide,  29 

Innate  cruelty  of  the  native,  95 


Jesuits,  The,  57,  77,  83 
Johnny,  192,  210 
Johnston  Falls,  The,  299 
Judy,  The  dog,  48 

K 

Kagoma,  188 

Kakonda,  98 

Kalahari,  The,  33 

Kalasa,  183 

Kangombe,  166 

Kangote,  105 

Kapoko,  150,  157 

Kasinda,  283 

Kasoma,  153 

Kasoma's  wife.  Death  of,  179 

Kassai,  The,  86 

Katanga  or  Garenganze,  184,  297 

Katema,  171 

Kazembe,  Execution  of  young,  222 

Khama,  28,  97 

Kifumadshe  Flat,  The,  168 

King's  barge,  The,  69 

Klerksdorp,  25 

Kuanjulula,  242 

Kumbule,  R.,  106 

Kwando,  R.,  Ill 

Kwanza,  R.,  154 

Kwawewe,  108 

L 

Languages,  118 

Larder,  Guarding  the,  227 

Lealui,  66 

Leopards,  178 

"  Lequalo,"  122 

Leshuma,  49 

Letot,  R.,  Camp  trouble  on  the,  113 

Lichtenburg,  26 

Likoko's,  Hospitality  at,  223 

Limpopo,  The,  27 

Linyanti,  81 

Lions,  41,  176,  206,  214 

Litia,  314 

Liverpool,  Stay  in,  254 

Livingstone,  18,  100,  247 

Liwanika,  52,  67,  97 

L.M.S.,  The,  90 

Lobengula,  97 

Lovale  country.  The,  167 

Lovale  women,  168 

Lualaba,  R.,  179 


INDEX 


333 


Lucalla,  R.,  and  town,  285 

Luena,  R.,  163 

Lufii-a,  R.,  186 

Lunda,  Villages,  294 

Lutoba,  Marriage  customs  at,  309 

M 

Makoffee,  82 

Mala,  of  Secumba,  97 

Malonda,  97 

Mamwia,  81 

Mangetti  tribe,  83 

Maritzbiirg,  22 

Marriage,  Conipulsorj',  84 

Mary,  Princess,  234 

Masaroa  Bushmen,  41 

Mbova,  54 

Men,  Barotse,  work  of,  85 

Mentality  of  the  native,  96 

Mesanga,  83 

Millet,  Destructive  method  of  grow- 
ing, 262 

Mishe-Mishe,  265 

Missionaries,  Married  and  un- 
married, 135 

Mistaken  methods  with  the  African, 
91 

Moffat,  Dr.,  81 

Mokwse,  Queen,  312 

Molenga,  180 

Moleni,  83 

"  Monare,"  100 

Monkobe,  189 

Monona,  218 

Monsoia,  26 

Morris,  Mr. 

Mosibe,  159 

Msidi,  119,  181,  183,  191,  202 

Mukurru,  182,  202 

Miiller's  Orphanages,  284 

Murrav,  Dr.  A.,  207 

Mweru,  L.,  264 

N 
Nalolo,  317 

Nambi,  The  spirit,  122 
Nana  Kandundu,  174,  249 
Native  etiquette,  317 
Nest,  A  curious,  282 
Ngoi,  Rescue  of,  249 
Nyassa,  L.,  260 

O 

Obea  men,  269 

Olohosi,  176 

Operation  in  the  bush.  An,  227 


Orchids,  306 

Ordeal,  Boiling  water,  87 

Ordeals,  89 

Osore,  L.,  105 

Ovimbundu  carriers,  152 

Ox-riding,  Difficulties  of,  105 


Panda-ma-tenka,  51 

Parrot,  An  entertaining,  152 

Peho,  161 

Poisonous  spider.  A,  286 

Polygamy,  203,  287 

Porto,  Senhor,  116,  244 

Portuguese,  Trouble  with  the,  244 

Portuguese  in  Africa,  The,  288 

Post,  A  welcome,  228 

Potchefstroom,  24 

Poverty,  191 

Preparing  for  the  great  work,  19 

Present,  An  embarrassing,  171 

Price,  Dr.,  81 

Printing  press.  A,  139 

Proteges  at  Msidi's,  193 

Q 

Quarantine,  In,  182 

R 

Radstock,  Lord,  234 
Raided  coiuitry,  A,  156 
Raids  by  Garenganze,  195 
Rains,  200 
Ramosi,  36 

Rebuke  for  temper.  A,  170 
Religions  and  beliefs,  122 
Reviews,  235 
Rhine,  The,  272 
Rhodes,  Cecil,  256 
Rivers,  Difficulties  of  crossing,  137 
Rogue  hippos,  318 
Rough  fellow  travellers,  301 
Royal  barge,  A,  318 
Royal  Geographical  Society,  The, 
232 

S 
Saddle,  A,  146 
Sanders,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  118 
Scenery  on  the  Kwando  R.,  Ill 
Scripture,  Translating,  293 
Sefula,  311 
Segunda,  192 
Sekufelu,  320 
Sekulu,  144 
Selous,  F.  C,  25 


334 


INDEX 


Sepopo,  83,  96 
Serenades,  164 
Serpents,  A  plague  of,  88 
Shesheke,  55 
Shooting  an  ox,  249 
Shoshong,  27 
Simboula,  82 
Slave  buying,  174,  210 
Slave  caravan.  A,  154 
Slaves  in  S.  America,  269 
Snake  as  bedfellow,  177 
Sparks,  Dr.,  286 
Stairs,  Capt.,  255 
Stanley,  173 
Station  work,  277 
Stevenson  Road,  The,  260 
Storm,  A  big,  324 
Strachey,  Genl.  R.,  233 
Strikes,  Carrier,  172 
Suku,  The  God,  127 
Sumbula,  165 
Swann,  Mr.,  228 


Taming  stick.  The,  210 

Tanganyika,  L.,  260 

Taylor,  Bishop,  279 

Teck,  Duchess  of,  234 

Telegraph  message,  The  first  from 

Benguella,  238 
Tests  of  genuineness,  182 
Thieves,  Incorrigible,  213 
Thievishness  of  the  Barotse,  90 
"  Three  mothers,"  162 
Times,  The,  and  Arnot,  232 
Tinka,  32 

Touching  re-union,  A,  218 
Travelling,  Difficult,  43 


Travelling  up  country,  23 
Tribute,  174 
Tsetse  fly,  The,  32 

U 

United  States,  Visit  to,  254 


Valuimbe,  The,  159 
Victoria  Falls,  74 
Vinanwanga,  The,  262 

W 

Walter,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  129 

Wanawana,  84 

Wardrobe,  A  depleted,  119 

Wart  hogs,  177 

Water,  Marching  through,  171 

Water,  Want  of,  34 

Webb,  Mr.,  25 

Westbeech,  G.,  61 

White  visitors,  230 

Wife,  Transferring  a,  225 

Wild  beasts.  Attacks  by,  206,  210 

Willie,  216 

Witch-doctors    and    wizardry,    66, 

93,  125,  229 
Witchcraft,  A  trial  for,  229 
Wizini  accused  of  witchcraft,  94 
Women,  Barotse,  84 


Yota,  183 


Zambesi,  The,  63,  314 


Printed  in  Great  Britain  at 

Zbc  /nbagflowcr  press,  iplcnioutb 

William  Brendon  &  Son  Ltd. 
1920 


_ 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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